Mod: I send money to the IRS every year. I don't do it because I wish to defend Degenerate Don against a rape charge. Do I, Mr. Barr?
Justice Dept. Intervenes to Help Trump in E. Jean Carroll Defamation Lawsuit(
The New York Timeslink): The
Justice Department moved on Tuesday to replace
President Trump’s private legal team with government lawyers to defend him against a defamation lawsuit by the author
E. Jean Carroll, who has accused him of raping her in a
Manhattan department store in the 1990s.
In a highly unusual legal move, lawyers for the
Justice Department said in court papers that
Mr. Trump was acting in his official capacity as president when he denied ever knowing
Ms. Carroll and thus could be defended by government lawyers — in effect underwritten by taxpayer money.
Though the law gives employees of the federal government immunity from most defamation lawsuits, legal experts said it has rarely, if ever, been used before to protect a president, especially for actions taken before he entered office.
“The question is,” said
Steve Vladeck, a
University of Texas law professor, “is it really within the scope of the law for government lawyers to defend someone accused of lying about a rape when he wasn’t even president yet?”
The motion also effectively protects
Mr. Trump from any embarrassing disclosures in the middle of his campaign for re-election. A state judge issued a ruling last month that potentially opened the door to
Mr. Trump being deposed in the case before the election in November, and
Ms. Carroll’s lawyers have also requested that he provide a
DNA sample to determine whether his genetic material is on a dress that
Ms. Carroll said she was wearing at the time of the encounter.
Ms. Carroll’s lawyer said in a statement issued Tuesday evening that the
Justice Department’s move to intervene in the case was a “shocking” attempt to bring the resources of the
United States government to bear on a private legal matter.
Mod: More on this at the link.
sierramadretattler.blogspot.com
