Lawyers: DOJ defense in Trump defamation suit is 'dangerous'

The U.S. Justice Department made a “wrong and dangerous” argument in seeking to defend former President Donald Trump against a former advice columnist’s claim that he defamed her when he denied her allegation of rape, her lawyers have told a court.

During Trump's presidency, the Justice Department sought to make the United States, not him personally, the defendant in E. Jean Carroll's lawsuit — a move that would put U.S. taxpayers on the hook if she got a payout in the case.

The Justice Department has argued that the statements he made about Carroll, including that she was “totally lying” to sell a memoir and that “she's not my type," fell within the scope of his job as president. The federal lawyers said he had to respond to her claims because they essentially questioned his fitness to hold public office.

In court papers filed late Friday, Carroll's lawyers said Trump's comments were “personal, not presidential” — and that accepting the Justice Department's view would essentially create a rule allowing federal officials to slur their detractors at will.

“That rule is both wrong and dangerous,” Carroll's lawyers, led by Roberta Kaplan, wrote in asking a federal appeals court to reject the Justice Department's argument. “It reflects a disturbing belief that federal officials should have free rein to destroy the reputations and livelihoods of any perceived critic — no matter how unrelated to the business of governance.”

Messages were sent Saturday morning to Justice Department attorneys on the case and to the law firm that has represented Trump's personally in the suit.

Carroll alleged in 2019 that Trump raped her in a New York luxury department store dressing room in the mid-1990s after they bumped into each other and started joking around about buying lingerie. She has been trying to...