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Judge says Justice Department cannot defend Trump in E. Jean Carroll rape defamation suit
NBC News ^ | October 27, 2020 | Pete Williams and Rebecca Shabad

Posted on 10/27/2020 10:47:44 AM PDT by Coronal

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in New York ruled Tuesday that the Justice Department cannot step in to shield President Donald Trump from a libel lawsuit filed by a woman who claims he raped her in a New York City department store more than 20 years ago.

The Justice Department had sought to block the lawsuit, filed by former gossip columnist E. Jean Carroll, by arguing that the president was acting in his official capacity when he told White House reporters that she made up the rape story.

Carroll sued, claiming that his statements branding her a liar damaged her reputation. Because federal law does not permit suing public officials for libel, the government said, the lawsuit should be dismissed.

But U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan said in his ruling Tuesday that the government was wrong on two counts. First, he said, the law applies only to federal employees, defined as officers of federal agencies — a description that does not include the president, who is in a different legal status.

Second, the judge said, the president's statements about something that happened more than two decades before are not within the scope of his official conduct.

"President Trump's views on the plaintiff's sexual assault allegation may be interesting to some, but they reveal nothing about the operation of government," Kaplan wrote.

"A comment about government action, public policy, or even an election is categorically different than a comment about an alleged sexual assault that took place roughly twenty years before the president took office," he wrote.

Accepting the government's view, he said, "would mean that a president is free to defame anyone who criticizes his conduct or impugns his character."

(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2ndcircuit; doj; federaljudge; judiciary; lewisakaplan; lewiskaplan; libellawsuit; politicaljudiciary; rapinbilljudge; sdnewyork; sdny; sdnysdnewyork; secondcircuit; trumprape
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1 posted on 10/27/2020 10:47:44 AM PDT by Coronal
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To: Coronal

Right...don’t believe for one minute that this judge has the power to enforce this. Laughable.


2 posted on 10/27/2020 10:48:52 AM PDT by Herodes
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To: Coronal

Leftists fakery


3 posted on 10/27/2020 10:48:55 AM PDT by conservativepoet
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To: Coronal

Twenty years ago.

Right...


4 posted on 10/27/2020 10:49:11 AM PDT by bk1000 (Banned from Breitbart)
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To: Coronal

What better timing!


5 posted on 10/27/2020 10:49:27 AM PDT by COBOL2Java (Joe Biden: Barack Obama minus the pretty talk.)
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To: Coronal

Time has not been kind to Jean.


6 posted on 10/27/2020 10:50:40 AM PDT by Ouchthatonehurt
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To: Ouchthatonehurt

Jean is an evil liar and should be in jail.


7 posted on 10/27/2020 10:53:55 AM PDT by ohioman
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To: Coronal

I don’t believe for one minute the rape accusations either.


8 posted on 10/27/2020 10:56:31 AM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: Coronal

Just.in.time for the election news cycle. This will be headlines for the next several days. The Tara Reade story...well...that’s unverified. Or it debunked? Or is it “old news”?


9 posted on 10/27/2020 11:01:53 AM PDT by JWNM
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To: Coronal

There is no difference between saying:

It’s not true.

And

She made it up.

The first clearly implies the second.

The presumption of innocence also means the presumption that the accuser is not telling the truth, unless they can prove it.

So the suit should be dismissed on the basis that it would require anyone charged with any offense to admit it, or to be sued for not admitting it.


10 posted on 10/27/2020 11:02:09 AM PDT by zencycler
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To: Coronal

“Accepting the government’s view, he said, “would mean that a president is free to defame anyone who criticizes his conduct or impugns his character.””

Wait a minute. Didn’t this all start off with some women who defamed Trumps character? So Trump didn’t have the right to defend himself? What has our legal system become.


11 posted on 10/27/2020 11:03:21 AM PDT by Revel
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To: Coronal

Is she hot? Because if she isnt hot, its not trump and she is a liar.


12 posted on 10/27/2020 11:04:52 AM PDT by Ikeon (Render unto Ceasar what is Ceasar's.)
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To: Coronal

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York Senior Judge Lewis A. Kaplan (75) was nominated by President Clinton and confirmed in 1994. There is apparently no picture of him readily available.

This is a defamation suit, filed last November (2019) by E. Jean Carroll, a New York writer, after Trump denied her claims that he raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in 1995 or 1996.denied her claims that he raped her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s.


13 posted on 10/27/2020 11:12:20 AM PDT by SES1066 (2020, VOTE your principles, VOTE your history, VOTE FOR ALL AMERICANS, VOTE colorblind!)
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To: Herodes; Coronal
Rapin Bill "judge" from SD New York.

Contemplate this, Rapin Bill judge:

The Notorious ACB ACTIVATED


14 posted on 10/27/2020 11:16:30 AM PDT by kiryandil (Chris Wallace: Because someone has to drive the Clown Car)
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To: SES1066

If you believe Donald Trump or ANY well-known celebrity goes shopping and wanders through department stores solo, I’ve got a bridge...


15 posted on 10/27/2020 11:16:43 AM PDT by Not_Who_U_Think
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To: Coronal

President Trump is “defaming” this lunatic woman but she is not defaming President Trump by falsely accusing him of rape?
Only in New York guys. Only in New York.


16 posted on 10/27/2020 11:21:56 AM PDT by SmokingJoe
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To: Not_Who_U_Think
Good point. I doubt he has been without at least one body guard for decades. What workaholic billionaire walks through a women's store, much less into the dressing room? She better present footage, date, time, and eye witnesses who can prove they were present in the vicinity or else pay a million or two in a countersuit.
17 posted on 10/27/2020 11:23:17 AM PDT by Missouri gal
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To: COBOL2Java
Nothing is going to distract from the Tony Bobulinski Biden expose on Tucker Carlson tonight.
18 posted on 10/27/2020 11:26:12 AM PDT by SmokingJoe
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To: Coronal

Nice smear NBC... The story [as it should be reported] is that this woman tried to smear the president, and when that failed he sued her for defamation.

NOT (as NBC wants to make it appear) that she got raped and now she is suing him.

Trump is the VICTIM here.

She falsely accused him of something. And the entire country of liberals could make false claims against him and ruin him financially if he had to defend himself. That’s what they did to Sarah Palin.

She did it BECAUSE OF his position and so this decision is wrong.


19 posted on 10/27/2020 11:26:33 AM PDT by Mr. K (No consequence of repealing obamacare is worse than obamacare itself)
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To: Not_Who_U_Think
I’ve got a bridge...

AND you can go inspect it just blocks away!

Agreed, common 'D' tactic, remember Gloria Allred finding that exploited illegal housekeeper several elections back? Sue until election and then ...?

20 posted on 10/27/2020 11:27:13 AM PDT by SES1066 (2020, VOTE your principles, VOTE your history, VOTE FOR ALL AMERICANS, VOTE colorblind!)
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