A federal appeals court panel on Wednesday refused the Justice Department’s effort to put itself on the hook for an $83.3 million defamation award advice columnist E. Jean Carroll won at trial from President Trump.
It’s the latest setback for the president in his efforts to fight Carroll’s lawsuits at the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Last week, the 2nd Circuit upheld her earlier $5 million jury award.
On Wednesday, the three-judge panel denied the Justice Department’s request to replace Trump as the defendant in Carroll’s defamation lawsuit under the Westfall Act, a 1988 law that protects federal employees from certain lawsuits concerning things they did in the course of their jobs.
The Justice Department contended Trump’s denials of Carroll’s sexual assault claims in a written statement and comments he made on the White House South Lawn in 2019 — the basis of her suit — were made within the scope of Trump’s employment as president.
“The Court will issue an opinion detailing its reasoning in due course,” reads the 2nd Circuit’s one-page order rejecting the effort without further explanation.
The three-judge panel comprised Judge Denny Chin, an appointee of former President Obama; Judge Sarah Merriam, an appointee of former President Biden; and Judge Maria Araújo Kahn, another Biden appointee.
“The American People are supporting President Trump in historic numbers, and they demand an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoaxes, the defense of which the Attorney General has determined is legally required to be taken over by the Department of Justice because Carroll based her false claims on the President’s official acts, including statements from the White House,” a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said in a statement.
The Hill has reached out to the Justice Department as well as Carroll’s legal team for comment.
Wednesday’s ruling is the latest setback for the president at the 2nd Circuit, where he has appealed both jury awards Carroll won after coming forward during Trump’s presidency with claims he sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. Trump continues to deny her story.
In the first trial, a jury found Trump liable for sexually assaulting Carroll and defaming her by denying her claims. Trump was ordered to pay $5 million.
The full 2nd Circuit bench rejected Trump’s appeal on Friday. The president’s legal team has vowed to take the case to the Supreme Court next.
Wednesday’s decision concerned the second trial, in which Carroll last year won an $83.3 million judgment from a separate jury over additional denials Trump made of the columnist’s claims, which were also ruled defamatory.
Since Trump retook the presidency, his Justice Department has sought to leverage the Westfall Act to step in for the president, which would mean he wouldn’t have to pay the damages and instead leave the government on the hook.
It’s a return to the Justice Department’s position during Trump’s first term, when it tried to step in near the onset of Carroll’s lawsuit. The gambit tied up the case in pretrial proceedings for years, only for the Biden-era Justice Department to drop the effort in 2023.
The 2nd Circuit’s ruling comes ahead of oral arguments scheduled for Tuesday, when the three-judge panel will hear Trump’s appeal of the jury verdict itself.
Updated at 5:10 p.m. EDT
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