LEGAL BATTLE

U.S. Justice Department Seeks to Defend Trump in E. Jean Carroll Defamation Suit

"President Trump was acting within the scope of his office," the Justice Department said in a court filing.

The U.S. Justice Department is seeking to overtake President Trump’s defense in advice columnist E. Jean Carroll's defamation lawsuit against him, according to Bloomberg. Carroll, who alleged that Trump raped her in the 1990s, sued after he dubbed her a liar and said he had never met her. “Because President Trump was acting within the scope of his office or employment at the time of the incident out of which the plaintiff’s claim arose, the United States will file a motion to substitute itself for President Trump in this action,” the Justice Department said in a court filing on Tuesday. After a request from Trump to postpone the lawsuit was denied, the U.S. moved the case from a state court in New York to Manhattan federal court. In a statement, Carroll said the move shows “that Trump will do everything possible, including using the full powers of the federal government, to block discovery from going forward in my case before the upcoming election to try to prevent a jury from ever deciding which one of us is lying. But Trump underestimates me, and he also has underestimated the American people.”

-- Pilar Melendez contributed reporting