[ad_1]
Image posted, Reuters
E-Jane Carroll said she was glad the judge understood some “basic facts”
A federal judge in the United States rejected the Justice Department’s attempt to defend President Donald Trump in a case brought by a woman who accused him of raping her.
Writer E Jean Carroll accuses Trump of assaulting her in a Manhattan store in the 1990s.
In a lawsuit, she said the president defamed her by denying her claim, saying she was “totally lying.”
The Justice Department wanted to defend Trump, citing a law that would protect federal employees from prosecution for acts stemming from their duties, and said he was serving as president when he denied Carroll’s allegations.
What did the judge say?
But Judge Lewis Kaplan argued that the President of the United States was not “an employee” in the sense of that bill – the Tort Claims Act.
Trump’s critics say that during his presidency he abused the Justice Department, which was supposed to operate independently of the White House.
The case was filed in New York state court in November 2019, and Trump’s personal attorney, Mark Kasowitz, represented him in court.
And the Justice Department took the lawsuit to the level of a federal court, where Carroll’s case would have become a case against the United States government, not against Trump as a private citizen.
Experts say the move would have ended the lawsuit because the federal government cannot be prosecuted for defamation.
Judge Kaplan said Trump’s comments “relate to an alleged sexual assault that occurred several decades before he took office, and the allegations have nothing to do with official action.”
The president is currently campaigning for re-election against Democratic rival Joe Biden in November.
As received The writer Carol decision?
“When Donald Trump called me a liar and denied meeting me, he was not speaking on behalf of the United States. I am glad that Judge Kaplan understood these basic facts,” said Carroll, a columnist for Elle, in a statement.
Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said the case will now go to federal court, adding: “This personal and brutal attack cannot be attributed to the office of president.”
Carroll’s legal team asked the president to provide a DNA sample so they could determine if her genetic material was on a black Donna Karan dress that she claimed was wearing at the time of the alleged assault.
What is the novel by E Jean Carroll?
Carroll says the assault occurred at the Bergdorf Goodman store in downtown Manhattan in late 1995 or early 1996, when she met Trump while shopping.
Trump allegedly consulted her when she was shopping for another woman’s underwear and jokingly asked her to try it on.
In the locker room, she said, Trump ran up to her, pushed her against the wall and imposed himself on her.
Carol says she managed to push him away.
Both Trump and Carol were in their 50s at the time and Trump was married to Marla Maples.
Trump has publicly denied the claim multiple times, saying that Carroll was “totally lying” and that she “was not the type I would prefer.”
