Lawyers for the journalist, who accused Donald Trump of rape, said Attorney General William Barr's reasoning for taking over the lawsuit is bogus.
The president of the United States denigrating a person accusing him of sexual assault is not part of his official duties, regardless of what his attorney general claims, lawyers for journalist E. Jean Carroll asserted Monday in a court filing.
Last month, the Department of Justice took the highly unusual step of seeking to make the U.S. government the defendant in the case, not Trump and his personal lawyers. If approved by a judge, the request would mean Attorney General William Barr would in effect be defending Trump — cementing the alarming trend of Barr’s DOJ becoming a self-serving instrument of the president.
In the court filing, they pointed out the ways Trump has taken “a broad view” in declaring what is personal and what is part of his duties as president, frequently trying to bend the rules to suit whatever he deems favorable to himself. The court filing is the latest turn of events in Carroll’s defamation lawsuit, which Trump and his lawyers have continually attempted to derail and have unsuccessfully tried to get dismissed.
The president asserted with no evidence whatsoever that Carroll was part of a conspiracy set up by Democrats. He also attacked her appearance, saying she “was not my type.”
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