In a court filing on Tuesday, the justice department reversed its position on defending Donald Trump in a lawsuit brought by writer E Jean Carroll, admitting that the former president is not entitled to immunity. The move paves the way for a possible trial in January.
As reported by NBC News, the department said that it can no longer conclude Trump was acting in his capacity as president when he made allegedly defamatory statements about Carroll.
According to the filing, DOJ has determined that “there is no longer a sufficient basis to conclude that the former President was motivated by ‘more than an insignificant’ desire to serve the United States Government” when he disparaged Carroll in 2019.
The former Elle magazine columnist alleges that she was sexually assaulted by Trump in a New York department store in 1996, a claim that he dismissed as “a complete con job”.
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Carroll, 79, alleges that she was sexually assaulted by Trump in a New York department store in 1996, a claim that he dismissed as “a complete con job”.
However, the former Elle magazine columnist has already won a second case against Trump over comments he made after he left the White House. In May, a New York jury found that Trump was liable for sexual abuse and defamation and ordered him to pay her $5m in damages.
Trump has sought to delay the first defamation lawsuit, arguing that he should be granted immunity because he made the comments while speaking to the media as president. Initially, the DOJ agreed with that view. But Tuesday’s reversal leaves Trump, 77, legally exposed to further damages and forced to rely on his own legal team rather than one from the government.
Carroll is seeking $10m in damages in the first suit.
Earlier on Tuesday, Carroll’s lawyers asked a judge in Manhattan to dismiss a countersuit by Trump that asserts she defamed him by repeating her claim that he raped her. They described Trump’s countersuit as his latest effort to “spin” his trial loss by claiming she caused him “significant” harm by implying in a post-trial interview that the assault was also a rape.
Trump is again running for president and is the clear frontrunner in the Republican primary field.
