Name: Trump Denied a DOJ Stand-In for Rape Accuser’s Lawsuit
Brand: courthousenews.com
SKU: courthousenews-com-147
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Trump Denied a DOJ Stand-In for Rape Accuser’s Lawsuit

preview

MANHATTAN (CN) — Donald Trump cannot deploy the Department of Justice to shield him from a defamation suit brought by rape accuser E. Jean Carroll, a federal judge &nbsp;The president of the United States is not an “employee of the government” within the meaning of the relevant statutes,” U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote this morning, rejecting Trump’s motion to substitute the United States as the defendant in a defamation suit he faces.Carroll says Trump assaulted her in a department store in the 1990s before he was president, then defamed her in denying that he had never met her, and she wasn’t his “type” if he did.“Even if he were such an ‘employee,’ President Trump’s allegedly defamatory statements concerning Ms. Carroll would not have been within the scope of his employment,” Kaplan wrote.&nbsp;Referring to the Federal Tort Claims Act by its shorthand, U.S. District Judge Kaplan found that the statute does not include presidents in its definition of employees.&nbsp;&nbsp;“While the president possesses all of the executive power of the United States, he is not an “employee” within the meaning of the FTCA,” he wrote.&nbsp;“And even if the president were an employee under that statute,” the Clinton-appointed judge wrote in his 61-page opinion, “his statements concerning Ms. Carroll were not within the scope of his employment under the law of the relevant jurisdiction, which for reasons explained below is Washington, D.C.”&nbsp;&nbsp;Trump denies having ever met Carroll, despite there being photographs showing otherwise, and depicts her accusations as part of a political conspiracy and a scheme to sell books.&nbsp;“I’ll say it with great respect: Number one, she’s not my type,” Trump said on June 24, 2019. “Number two, it never happened. It never happened.”&nbsp;&nbsp;Carroll initially in Manhattan Supreme Court. Trump brought the case to U.S. District Court, where he has been pushing for its postponement ever since in a combustible election season.&nbsp;In support of Trump’s bid to have the Department of Justice intervene, the government argued that allowing defamation lawsuits like Carroll’s to proceed will discourage presidents from responding to press inquiries about such allegations, racking up costs and time.&nbsp;In opposition to the substitution bid, Carroll’s attorney rebuked the Justice Department’s argument that Trump made his comments about Carroll in the scope of his duty as president.&nbsp;“There is not a single person in the United States — not the president and not anyone else — whose job description includes slandering women they sexually assaulted,” attorney Roberta Kaplan wrote in the opening volley of a 45-page&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;“That should not be a controversial proposition. Remarkably, however, the Justice Department seeks to prove it wrong,” continued the lawyer, who co-founded the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund in 2017 with Tina Tchen, Fatima Goss Graves and Hilary Rosen.&nbsp;Representatives for Kaplan’s firm, Kaplan Hecker &amp; Fink LLP,&nbsp;did not immediately respond to request for comment on Judge Kaplan’s ruling.&nbsp;A Department of Justice spokesperson declined to comment on the ruling Tuesday.This story is developing…Malawi's Constitutional Court judges were Tuesday named winners of a prestigious international award for overturning…Thieves have stolen thousands of prints by the acclaimed graffiti artist STIK that were intended…The Gulf Coast is keeping a close eye on Tropical Storm Zeta, which is expected…Same-sex marriage supporters cheer outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Taiwan, on May 17, 2019.…A Philippine police officer was killed during a raid on an illegal cockfight after a…She's been a princess, a president, a Marine Corps sergeant, an astronaut and a Star…This website uses cookies.Accept

MANHATTAN (CN) — Donald Trump cannot deploy the Department of Justice to shield him from a defamation suit brought by rape accuser E. Jean Carroll, a federal judge &nbsp;The president of the United States is not an “employee of the government” within the meaning of the relevant statutes,” U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote this morning, rejecting Trump’s motion to substitute the United States as the defendant in a defamation suit he faces.Carroll says Trump assaulted her in a department store in the 1990s before he was president, then defamed her in denying that he had never met her,...

public

Josh Russell

Courthouse News Service is a nationwide news service for lawyers and the news media. Based in Pasadena, California, Courthouse News focuses on civil litigation, from the date of filing through the appellate level. Unlike other Internet-based publishers that simply aggregate information prepared by other content providers, Courthouse News publishes its own original news content prepared by its staff of reporters and editors based across the country.

Trump Denied a DOJ Stand-In for Rape Accuser’s Lawsuit

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS