Trump can be held liable in writer's defamation lawsuit after Justice Department reverses course
CTV
The Justice Department has reversed its position that Donald Trump can't be held personally liable for remarks he made about a woman who accused him of rape because he was president when he made the comments
The Justice Department on Tuesday said that Donald Trump can be held personally liable for remarks he made about a woman who accused him of rape -- a reversal of its position that Trump was protected because he was president when he made the remarks.
In a letter filed with the judge presiding over a defamation lawsuit that columnist E. Jean Carroll brought in Manhattan federal court in 2020, the department says it no longer has "a sufficient basis" to conclude that Trump was motivated in his statements about Carroll's claims by more than an insignificant desire to serve the United States.
Previously, the department had agreed with Trump's attorneys that he was protected from the lawsuit by the Westfall Act, which provides federal employees absolute immunity from lawsuits brought over conduct occurring within the scope of their employment.
In May, a jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages after concluding that Trump sexually abused her in 1996 at a midtown Manhattan Bergdorf Goodman store and then defamed her last fall with comments he made about her and her claims. While the jury concluded Trump sexually abused Carroll, it rejected her rape claim.
The trial resulted from a lawsuit Carroll brought last November after New York state temporarily allowed victims of sexual abuse to make civil claims for attacks that occurred even decades earlier.
In the government's letter, U.S. lawyers cited the jury's verdict, Trump's October deposition and new claims Carroll has since made that Trump defamed her again with comments he made during a CNN town hall a day after the verdict.
The letter gives fresh fuel to Carroll's original defamation lawsuit, which had been delayed by appeals over whether Trump could be held liable for statements he made while president.
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