DOJ tries to step in for Trump in E. Jean Carroll appeal
Teh Justice Department (DOJ) has filed a joint motion with Donald Trump’s lawyers regarding an appeal related to a defamation case brought against him by E. Jean Carroll. In 2024, a jury found Trump liable for defamation due to comments he made in 2019 that denied Carroll’s allegations of sexual abuse. Now, Trump is appealing the decision in the U.S. District Court for the Second Circuit. The DOJ contends that Trump’s statements fall under the Westfall act, which grants immunity to government employees for actions taken within the scope of their employment. They seek to have the DOJ represent Trump in the appeal, asserting he was acting in his official capacity as president when he made the contested remarks. This marks a shift,as the DOJ previously withdrew support for this claim under the Biden governance but is now renewing it as Trump appeals the jury’s decision.
DOJ tries to step in for Trump in E. Jean Carroll appeal
The Justice Department filed a joint motion with lawyers for President Donald Trump in the appeal of a ruling in a defamation case levied by E. Jean Carroll against him for comments he made in 2019.
Trump was found liable for defamation by a jury in 2024 for comments he made denying Carroll’s allegations of sexual abuse. He was in office during his first term as president when he made the allegedly defamatory remarks. The president, now in his second term, is appealing the decision in the U.S. District Court for the Second Circuit.
In a filing last week, lawyers for both the DOJ and Trump argued that the Justice Department believes the president’s comment falls under the Westfall Act, which gives government employees immunity for conduct that falls under the scope of their job. The motion also called for the DOJ to substitute the president’s lawyers in the case as the defendant-appellant.
“Substitution is required because once the Attorney General certifies that a defendant is acting within the scope of his office or employment, the United States is the party defendant unless and until a court rules to the contrary,” the filing said.
The filing also included a certification from Kirsten Wilkerson, Director of the Torts Branch, Civil Division in the Justice Department, that Trump acted within his scope of employment as president when he made the comments in question in 2019.
“On the basis of the information now available with respect to the claims asserted therein, I find that Donald J. Trump was acting within the scope of his office or employment at the time of the incidents out of which the plaintiff’s claims arose,” Wilkerson said in a filing with the court.
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Westfall Act claims were initially supported by the DOJ when the case was proceeding through federal district court. In July 2023, under then-President Joe Biden, the department dropped its support for the claim that Trump was acting under the scope of his job as president.
The Justice Department, now again under Trump, is attempting to renew these claims as the president appeals last year’s jury decision.
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