Justice Department appeals judge’s decision in Trump defamation case – By Larry Neumeister (Associated Press) / Nov 25 2020
NEW YORK — The Justice Department is appealing a judge’s refusal to let the United States replace President Donald Trump as the defendant in a defamation lawsuit brought by a woman who says he raped her in the 1990s.
Department attorneys notified U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of its plans Wednesday to ask the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan to consider the judge’s decision.
Kaplan concluded last month in a written decision that Trump’s June 19 statements about columnist E. Jean Carroll didn’t constitute an official act of the presidency and were outside the scope of his employment as president.
Substituting the United States for Trump would leave taxpayers responsible for any payout in the case.
Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said in a statement that the Justice Department appeal was not a surprise because, from the start of the case, “Donald Trump’s number one goal has been to avoid discovery and cause delay.”
