The Department of Justice said Tuesday that it would no longer defend former President Donald Trump in the contentious sexual battery and defamation lawsuit writer E. Jean Carroll filed against him.
According to the Daily Beast, Justice Department attorneys notified a New York City federal judge that they would not affirm that "Donald J. Trump was acting within the scope of his office and employment as President of the United States" when he denied, in 2019, ever raping Carroll and said the columnist wasn't his "type."
Former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman called the move a "big reversal" for the DOJ.
"Now Trump has no shield and will have to go to trial on the merits, which we already know are lousy," he wrote.
Carroll sued Trump for defamation in an initial lawsuit that has been held up for years as the former president brandished the Justice Department as a shield and asserted that he was immune from the lawsuit as a government official.
After he left office and continued insulting the journalist, Carroll sued Trump a second time, resulting in the swift civil case earlier this year in which a Manhattan grand jury found Trump had sexually abused her in the 1990s and defamed her, awarding her $5 million in damages.
The first suit, however, continued to loom behind the scenes. The federal judge asked the DOJ to determine whether its lawyers believed Trump was acting within his official duties when he mocked Carroll several years prior. If they had found that he was, Trump would have been entitled to absolute immunity under the Westfall Act. The DOJ had previously announced in 2021 that it would continue to represent the former president in the suit, but last month asked U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan if it could reassess its position after it had been "overtaken by events."
In a letter filed with the court on Tuesday, Principal Duty Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton, delivered the department's conclusion: The DOJ "declines to issue a new Westfall Act certification" to protect Trump.
Though Boynton noted that Justice Department attorneys did not have evidence of Trump's "state of mind" when he berated Carroll, he said that the department's lawyers determined that Trump's offensive comments were part of a personal gripe evidenced by his penchant for lobbing the verbal attacks Carrol's way post-presidency.
"The prior history between Ms. Carroll and Mr. Trump supports a determination that the former President's statements were not sufficiently motivated by a purpose to serve the government," he wrote. "And a jury has now found that Mr. Trump sexually assaulted Ms. Carroll long before he became President. That history supports an inference that Mr. Trump was motivated by a 'personal grievance' stemming from events that occurred many years prior to Mr. Trump's presidency."
Trump spouted off on Truth Social early Wednesday, bemoaning the DOJ and the judge, asserting that his comments about Carrol were true and claiming the defamation case was another leg of the "political Witch Hunt" against him.
"The DOJ will not defend me in the E. Jean Carroll civil case, which is all part of the political Witch Hunt, lawyered up by a political operative who I just beat in another case, financed by a big political funder, and 'judged' by a Clinton appointee who truly hates 'TRUMP,'" he wrote in the first of three posts. "The statements that I made about Carroll are all true. I didn't Rape her (I won that at trial) and other than for this case, I have NO IDEA WHO SHE IS, WHAT SHE LOOKS LIKE, OR ANYTHING ABOUT HER…."
Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.
"The Carroll civil case against me is a Miscarriage of Justice and a total Scam. The trial was very unfair, with the other side being able to do and present virtually anything they wanted, and our side being largely and wrongfully shut down by an absolutely hostile, biased, and out of control judge. My lawyers, due to their respect for the Office of the President and the incredulity of the case, did not want me to testify, or even be at the trial….." Trump continued.
"The net result of this horrible INJUSTICE, where a completely unknown to me woman made up a ridiculous story, wrote it in a book to increase publicity and sales, I correctly disputed the story and got sued for Defamation, whereupon a hostile Judge and Jury shockingly awarded a woman who I don't know, have never known, and don't want to know, $5,000,000, while at the same time throwing out the Fake Rape claim," he concluded. "WE ARE STRONGLY APPEALING THIS TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE!!!"
Former U.S. attorney Harry Litman clarified on Tuesday, however, that the Justice Department's determination came as a result of Trump's own actions.
"Importantly, it wasn't just an arbitrary reversal of the Westfall Act (scope of employment) argument in the Trump case but a change in position based on change in circumstances," Litman wrote, "aka another big self-inflicted wound by Trump."
Read more
about E. Jean Carroll's lawsuit
Shares