OFFICIAL DUTIES

Justice Dept. Argues Trump Shouldn’t Be Sued for Denying Rape Claim Because It Was Part of His Job

He “addressed matters relating to his fitness for office as part of an official White House response to press inquiries,” Justice Department lawyers said.

The Justice Department said Monday that President Trump should not be personally sued for defamation for denying magazine writer E. Jean Carroll’s rape accusation, arguing his response was an official presidential act. Carroll has accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s, and sued the president after he denied it, saying she’s “not my type.” Attorney General William Barr has sought to transfer the lawsuit to federal court and change its defendant from Trump to the federal government in a bid to dismiss Carroll’s lawsuit, since government workers largely have immunity from defamation claims while they’re doing their jobs. In Monday’s filing, the department claims Trump’s denial of the allegations did not constitute slander, and that it “addressed matters relating to his fitness for office as part of an official White House response.” “Given the president’s position in our constitutional structure, his role in communicating with the public is especially significant,” the Justice Department lawyers wrote. “The president’s statements fall within the scope of his employment for multiple reasons.”