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Politics
Justice Department wants to step in for Trump in E. Jean Carroll appeal
By
Graham Kates,
Katrina Kaufman
April 17, 2025 / 1:08 PM EDT / CBS News
The Department of Justice wants to stand in for President Trump in his
ongoing appeal of a defamation case that could cost him tens of millions of dollars.
Lawyers for the taxpayer-funded agency and Mr. Trump's personal attorneys said in a filing on April 11 that the Justice Department believes the federal Westfall Act shields Mr. Trump in the case, which has pitted him against the writer E. Jean Carroll.
A federal jury
awarded Carroll $83.3 million in January 2024, after concluding that Mr. Trump made defamatory statements when denying that he sexually abused Carroll. That award came less than a year after a separate federal jury concluded
Trump was liable for sexual abuse, and instructed him to pay her $5 million.
Mr. Trump has denied all of
Carroll's allegations and appealed both cases.
The Justice Department asserts that Mr. Trump was acting in his official capacity as president when he made the allegedly defamatory statements about Carroll in 2019, and therefore the court is required to substitute the United States for Mr. Trump in the case. Under the Westfall Act, federal employees are entitled to absolute immunity from personal lawsuits for conduct occurring within the scope of their employment.
The Department of Justice wants to stand in for President Trump in his ongoing appeal of a defamation case that could cost him tens of millions of dollars.
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