Justice Department wants to defend Trump in E. Jean Carroll defamation lawsuit

[MooseNSquirrel]

They think it's ok for Trump to be a rapist

And a racist, a liar, a thief, a serial sinner...

You know, everything evangelical folk stand for.

 

[HomerJS]

Just remember what Trump said that instigated this defamation suit...

"I didn't rape her because she's not my type"

 

[Jhhnn]

According to Barr, denying personal accusations in a press conference makes it official govt business. That's truly absurd, but that's Bill Barr.

 

[SMOGZINN]

According to Barr, denying personal accusations in a press conference makes it official govt business. That's truly absurd, but that's Bill Barr.

You must understand that under Barr's philosophy Trump is the government and therefore anything that affects Trump is government business.

 

[hal2kilo]

You must understand that under Barr's philosophy Trump is the government and therefore anything that affects Trump is government business.

I dream of Barr becoming disgraced and unemployable, but I'm sure he will find some happy conservative foundation job after this.

 

[woolfe9998]

this is about getting her suit dismissed. there's a case the 6th circuit just decided involving the covington catholic guys and tweets made by liz warren and rep haaland that determined the tweets were made in the scope of their employment by the united states in service to their constituents, and so, therefore, the question fell under the tort claims act, which made the united states the defendant. the US has not waived sovereign immunity for defamation. the upshot is that the case would be subject to immediate dismissal.

Google Scholar

scholar.google.com

so the question is whether a) the president is a government employee for purposes of the FTCA as modified by the westfall act, and b) whether his comments were in the scope of his employment (iow, messaging his constituents).

And the answer is relatively simple. When Trump speaks at a presser, he sometimes speaks in the course and scope of his job, and he sometimes speaks for himself personally. Just because he opted to hold the RNC at the White House does not mean the RNC was an official function of the federal government. Here, Trump was speaking (lying, same thing) to defend himself against allegations of sexual misconduct from before he was POTUS. End of story.

 

[interchange]

And the answer is relatively simple. When Trump speaks at a presser, he sometimes speaks in the course and scope of his job, and he sometimes speaks for himself personally. Just because he opted to hold the RNC at the White House does not mean the RNC was an official function of the federal government. Here, Trump was speaking (lying, same thing) to defend himself against allegations of sexual misconduct from before he was POTUS. End of story.

And when he speaks personally on his Twitter, etc. he expects to hold no professional liability. In short, Trump makes whatever arguments he can to get whatever he wants out of a situation. It's like his lawyers arguing in federal court that courts do not have the authority to enforce a subpoena on the executive while arguing at the same time during his impeachment trial that the Senate should not call witnesses or find him guilty of obstruction for barring witnesses in the impeachment inquiry because they did not seek to enforce the subpoenas in court.

 

[dainthomas]

Just remember what Trump said that instigated this defamation suit...

"I didn't rape her because she's not my type"

The president of the United States has a type he would rape.

 

[Fenixgoon]

The president of the United States has a type he would rape.

You don't mess around when it comes to logical statements and inferences.
It's somehow more horrifying when you out it that way.

 

[Jhhnn]

I dream of Barr becoming disgraced and unemployable, but I'm sure he will find some happy conservative foundation job after this.

We shall see. He may have made a bad mistake in messing with the Court of Emmett G Sullivan.

 

[hal2kilo]

Trump's got to be the worst client to represent ever.

Legal experts: Trump “just blasted his own defense apart” in Truth Social rant about rape accuser | Salon.com

Maybe there is some truth at Truth Social after all.

 

[zinfamous]

Trump's got to be the worst client to represent ever.

Legal experts: Trump “just blasted his own defense apart” in Truth Social rant about rape accuser | Salon.com

Maybe there is some truth at Truth Social after all.

huh.

so this morning/afternoon was his deposition in this case. Him posting that earlier this week is just a dottard putting his brain through the weekly pains, that his, such-victim life has been subjected to, by outside demons?

holy crap, that post has to be his steam compression from the head area. Those words are probably pretty close to what he said in court today or, well, there's only like 1 record of Trump deposition in transcript, afaik, so maybe he does "behave" in those situations.

lol, he's probably totally pulling the Fox defense when he really has to sit closed doors behind a judge: "Look, Sir/Ma'am, I'm just a guy playing a character on TV. Lot of people pay me to do it. Lot of them. It's even really legal. Look, here are all the receipts of people paying me money to literally be on TV in any capacity, being a complete jackass and literal threat to humanity, and there absolutely is not any law against that. Because I'm not in jail, right?
I'm just a guy that people pay to be a guy. I'm living the dream! Look at all of them, they want to spend their money on Trump. TRUMP! TruMP! was president. Isn't that right? ANd it's legal, too. when you do an election, that let you do it! ANd I did that, no one, no one even thought of that before. You know? The what I did. The election. Like, I did that and people paid me to do it, see? No one else thought of that before! ANd I did it!

Trump jumps up in his chair, kicks the table...kinda (which, these deposition tables are massive, in small rooms, and Trump is a big guy, so this is a pretty dramatic, very tight scene, just keep that in mind), because the oriental mahogany conference table, 38 years old and mass of 70 stone, just kinda says "no" and flattens Trump back into the wall as the entire 25 stone of Force projected into his kick, is immediately returned to his face. Barely dazed, however, an energized Trump pushes flat and stands against the wall.

ANd it was all LEGAL! I did all the things and they were all legal. WHen you're president, they let you do it! SO I did! I did all those things and it was legal!
TRUMP OUT!

and then Trump runs towards the door of the conference room, but trips over his comically-long tie and veers off-course of his exit and towards an adjacent government-budgeted window, closed but sort...of out-of-maintenance, of the 8th floor executive conference room of the USNY offices, his impressive, tumbling mass meeting no defense from this large, single-paned glass plate passing as "Required Human Habit necessity feature" within budget, flips gently but loudly fold over fold, splattering in more of a dull thud than any idea you head of this ignoble moment of death actually being satisfying, much less amusing. It isn't, it's actually just boring.

But even if Trump hadn't tumbled out of that window, that Judge and those council in that office, watching the whole thing and following it all to the ledge, would probably agree that everything he ranted about up there, just moments before his fateful tumble onto another feature of mid-day Manhattan streets: a giant, muffling, buffeting, heap of trash bags, was 100% true.

No one could disagree with that.

 

[conehead433]

I'm 100% certain that if Donald Trump opened his mouth at the deposition he flat out lied about it, as he has repeatedly. What is troubling is that he has not been asked to provide a DNA sample that would surely match the DNA evidence that E. Jean Carroll has on a jacket that she saved from the event. The DNA evidence would prove not only that he raped her, but has continually defamed her as well.

 

[Pens1566]

His statements on truth social blow his whole defense out of the fucking water. He was going with "i made those statements while POTUS, so i'm protected". But saying the same shit this week on social media eliminates that. Her lawyers should add that into the case and watch the shit show unravel.

Just the worst possible client, holy fuck.

edit:
Didn't see the article saying the same already linked. Still, holy shit ...

 

[hal2kilo]

Trump's got to be the worst client to represent ever.

Legal experts: Trump “just blasted his own defense apart” in Truth Social rant about rape accuser | Salon.com

Maybe there is some truth at Truth Social after all.

The Orange moron just keeps digging deeper. We need more people like Reid Hoffman.

"It was beneath me": Trump fumes at his own lawyer on Truth Social for giving him "not good advice"

Trump appeared to blame his attorney for losing E. Jean Carroll case.

www.salon.com

"It was beneath me": Trump fumes at his own lawyer on Truth Social for giving him "not good advice"​

Trump appeared to blame his attorney for losing E. Jean Carroll case​

 

[Thump553]

The Orange moron just keeps digging deeper. We need more people like Reid Hoffman.

"It was beneath me": Trump fumes at his own lawyer on Truth Social for giving him "not good advice"

Trump appeared to blame his attorney for losing E. Jean Carroll case.

www.salon.com

"It was beneath me": Trump fumes at his own lawyer on Truth Social for giving him "not good advice"​

Trump appeared to blame his attorney for losing E. Jean Carroll case​

What an idiot. His main defense was that he made the allegedly defamatory statements while he was President, that the statements related to his presidency and thus are barred by presidential immunity. So Trump ignores the advice of counsel and makes a brand new set of the allegedly defamatory arguments NOW. No possible presidential immunity on that new set of statements.

For such an experienced litigant, he is his own worst enemy by frequent boneheaded blunders such as this.