The Justice Department has dropped plans to defend Donald Trump in a lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll and said in a court filing Tuesday that it no longer believes he was acting within the scope of his presidential duties in 2019 when he allegedly defamed the writer. while denying her accusation of rape.
The “Department has determined that there is no longer a sufficient basis to conclude that the former president was motivated by ‘more than insignificant’ desire to serve the United States government” when he disparaged Carroll in remarks to reporters four years ago.
Trump’s comments came shortly after Carroll alleged that he raped her in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s. Carroll later sued Trump for defamation, and the Justice Department at the time moved to represent him, arguing that he should have full immunity for his comments because “he was acting within the scope of his office and employment as President of the United States when he made the remarks.”
In a letter sent Tuesday to lawyers involved in the case, the Justice Department said it had changed its position given new evidence, including a jury verdict earlier this year that found Trump responsible for sexually assaulting Carroll and the defamatory comments. what he did about her after leaving the White House. .
The reversal reduces Trump’s chances of escaping liability in Carroll’s remaining lawsuit against him.
Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney, welcomed the Justice Department’s decision.
“We are grateful that the Department of Justice has reconsidered its position,” Kaplan said in a statement. “We have always believed that Donald Trump made his defamatory statements about our client in June 2019 out of personal animosity, ill will and spite. and not as President of the United States.”
An attorney for Trump had no immediate comment.
