Department of Justice moves to defend Trump in defamation lawsuit

cbsnews.com ^ | clare hymes

[bitt]

The Department of Justice on Tuesday made the unprecedented decision to take over the president's defense in a defamation lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll, a columnist who last year accused Mr. Trump of sexually assaulting her over two decades ago. Carroll is suing Mr. Trump in his personal capacity, and he was previously represented by private attorneys.

The sudden intervention by the Justice Department comes a month after a judge denied a request to stay the litigation, which meant Mr. Trump may have to produce documents and a DNA sample and sit for depositions in the lead up to the November election.

For now, the case will be removed from New York State Supreme court and into the Southern District of New York where a federal judge will decide whether the DOJ can step in on Mr. Trump's behalf.

In a statement posted on Carroll's Twitter account, her attorney Roberta Kaplan said that "Trump's effort to wield the power of the U.S. government to evade responsibility for his private misconduct is without precedent, and shows even more starkly how far he is willing to go to prevent the truth from coming out."

The government is justifying the decision to involve the DOJ by claiming that the president is protected by The Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), a law that essentially shields federal employees from civil litigation, because he "was acting within the scope of his office or employment at the time of the incident out of which the claim arose."

"The claim asserts defamation based on a written statement issued to the press and two statements the President made in interviews in June 2019 in which the President vehemently denied accusations made in Plaintiff's then-forthcoming book," the DOJ said in a court filing. "The President explained that these accusations

[bitt]

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[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Ah yes, I expect the same people who didn’t give a damn about Tara Reade’s credible rape accusations and both Kamala and Biden meeting with a now-paralyzed sex offender will dust off their pink vagina hats and march on DC.

[HollyB]

“ For now, the case will be removed from New York State Supreme court and into the Southern District of New York where a federal judge will decide whether the DOJ can step in on Mr. Trump’s behalf.”

Southern District of NY? Seems like a lot of sketchy issues occur there.

[Shethink13]

The sudden intervention by the Justice Department comes a month after a judge denied a request to stay the litigation, which meant Mr. Trump may have to produce documents and a DNA sample and sit for depositions in the lead up to the November election.

A DNA sample? Was this the chick who accused him of assaulting her in a fancy store dressing room? Does she have a stained blue dress?

[ScaniaBoy]

Yes, that's the woman. I think her main evidence is a photo from 1987(!!) where she is in the same line waiting for some event.

The president scoffed when questioned about a photo of himself with his accuser, E. Jean Carroll, which New York magazine published on its website along with Carroll’s description of the alleged assault by Trump. Also in the photo were Trump’s then-wife, Ivana Trump, and Carroll’s then-husband, New York newscaster John Johnson.

“Standing with my coat on in a line. Give me a break,” Trump said of the 1987 photo. “With my back to the camera.”

[napscoordinator]

Yes. But it’s black.

[Soul of the South]

Wouldn’t forcing someone to provide a DNA sample be a violation of the Fifth Amendment protection against self incrimination?

[mdmathis6]

Chain of custody is a huge issue. Supposedly she’s had this dress hanging up in her room for 33 years with his “dna” on it. Now she’s not trying to have Trump charged “rape” rape”...just defamation simply because he denied the allegation..... a curious position. She can’t actually try to have him charged with rape, her story would not lend itself to the charge very well, since the story leaves itself open to a consensual “fling”.(She didn’t cry out in that acoustically open to the Macy’s shopping floor dressing room, she just took it ‘till he was done” according to her story.) Wow! All this from a woman who has a history of writing about sexual liasons and rape fantasies! Over 33 years it may be very easy to have found ways of getting Trump’s DNA so the chain of custody is going to be very problematic.

[Pete Dovgan]

She waited 30 years, she can wait till he is out of office.

[Mark17]

There is a new charge every day. What will tomorrow’s charge be? Did Gene Hackman, ask him if he was picking his feet 🦶 in Poughkeepsie?

[Boomer One]

Why are they requesting a DNA sample and, if one is obtained, how long before it shows up on a blue dress?

[lepton]

Submit DNA samples? Does the accuser claim to have DNA samples of her own? Or is that just another layer of silliness?

[Bob Ireland]

***The government is justifying the decision to involve the DOJ by claiming that the president is protected by The Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), a law that essentially shields federal employees from civil litigation, because he "was acting within the scope of his office or employment at the time of the incident out of which the claim arose."***

I suspect this is CBS grinding its usual axe; I imagine this is DoJ taking a politically biased case away from the terribly biased New York State AG. It is an established practice that the sitting president cannot be allowed to be harassed by endless petty law suits, distracting him/her from carrying out their official duties.

Once POTUS leaves office I would expect DoJ to vacate their position.