DOJ Says Trump Not Liable for 'Crude' Comments on E. Jean Carroll

Justice Department lawyers want to replace former POTUS as defendant in lawsuit
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 8, 2021 2:24 AM CDT
DOJ Wants to Sub for Trump in E. Jean Carroll Lawsuit
In this March 4, 2020, file photo, E. Jean Carroll talks to reporters outside a courthouse in New York.   (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Former President Trump cannot be held personally liable for “crude" and “disrespectful” remarks he made while president about a woman who accused him of rape, Justice Department lawyers said Monday in arguing for him to be replaced by the United States as defendant in a defamation lawsuit. The lawyers told the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan that responding to allegations of misconduct falls within activities that form part of any president’s office, the AP reports. Trump was acting “within the scope of his office" in denying wrongdoing after White House reporters asked him about claims by columnist E. Jean Carroll in a June 2019 book that he attacked her in the mid-1990s at an upscale Manhattan department store, the lawyers from the Washington office of the Justice Department wrote.

"Elected public officials can—and often must—address allegations regarding personal wrongdoing that inspire doubt about their suitability for office," the lawyers said. “Such wrongdoing can include not only the serious charges of criminal behavior leveled here, but a range of activities including fraud and malfeasance. Officials do not step outside the bounds of their office simply because they are addressing questions regarding allegations about their personal lives," they said. “Even reprehensible conduct ... can fall within the scope of employment." The lawyers conceded that comments attacking Carroll's appearance, impugning her motives and implying she had made false accusations against others “were without question unnecessary and inappropriate." But they said they “all pertained to the denial of wrongdoing." (More here, including Carroll's response.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X