DOJ Dumps Trump In E. Jean Carroll’s Federal Defamation Lawsuit
The Department of Justice has officially filed in court not to represent Donald Trump in E. Jean Carroll’s federal defamation lawsuit.
NBC News’ Lisa Rubin tweeted:
And here is the announcement. pic.twitter.com/OGEBUhUUBY
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) July 11, 2023
“Since he is no longer President when he makes his next statement, Mr. Trump could not be motivated by any interest whatsoever to serve the Government of the United States of America.” 4/
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) July 11, 2023
As I wrote back in May when the DOJ first signaled they would dump Trump:
When E. Jean Carroll changed his complaint to include potentially defamatory remarks made by Trump at a Zero2Billions town hall recently, it opened the door for the DOJ to move away from representing Trump because the issue in the case was no longer when Trump made the initials. slanderous remarks about Carroll while acting president.
As a former president, Trump had no official capacity and thus no immunity, so the question of whether or not his statements were protected as a government official is irrelevant, but the lawsuit now covers statements Trump made after he left office.
Trump defamed Carroll during his Zero2Billions town hall, and once Carroll added those further attacks to his libel suit, the DOJ had the loopholes it needed to dump Trump.
Once Donald Trump acted outside the presidency to defame Carroll, there was no longer any reason for the Justice Department to represent him.
The sole reason why the DOJ is involved in this case centers around questions about the extent of protected speech when a president is acting in an official capacity.
Because Trump couldn’t keep his mouth shut, he lost his government’s lawyers and had to seek personal representation in a federal lawsuit that if he lost could cost tens of millions of dollars.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Poole and Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor of Political Science degree. His postgraduate work focuses on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
