The lengths, or the depths, to which the Department of Justice under Attorney General William Barr has been willing to go to protect the president in court have been astounding, but perhaps none of those lengths have been quite as shocking as the one the DOJ tried to pull in the defamation suit against Donald Trump by a woman who claims that Trump raped her in the 1990s. In that case, the DOJ was willing to represent Trump since his remarks about his accuser’s claims, to which he responded that she is not his “type,” were part of the president’s job.
Here's the judge's order telling the DOJ
to BUTT OUT! pic.twitter.com/Ukxc4J6eww— E. Jean Carroll (@ejeancarroll) November 20, 2020
In any legal case in which the president is involved where the alleged issue is with something the president did in the course of running the country, the Department of Justice would be called on as well as the White House attorney. But calling E. Jean Carroll, the woman who says Trump sexually assaulted her in the dressing room of a department store, a liar because she’s not your “type” is already beyond the pale, and is most definitely not part of Trump’s job. And a district judge confirmed that fact on Friday when the case was taken up once again.
According to Law & Crime, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said that:
‘[T]he docket sheet erroneously lists Mr. [Stephen] Terrell and another attorney as counsel for defendant Trump. That is incorrect. They represent only the United States.’
Bad news for @realDonaldTrump’s rape case! https://t.co/7y1VcvqTX5
— PoliticalJunkie (@Politics442) November 20, 2020
Not only will Trump not have the protection of his watchdog, Bill Barr, while fighting against this lawsuit, Trump won’t have them in any of the cases against him in New York for alleged campaign finance violations, potential tax fraud, and potential bank fraud. The Department of Justice shouldn’t be protecting the president from such charges, but it would be even worse if they defended him against attacking a sexual assault claimant.
‘The Justice Department tried to barge into the case in September, insisting that Trump responding to rape allegations with comments like “She’s not my type” is just one of the duties befitting of the President of the United States.’
NEW: Judge schedules telephone conference in E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit against Pres. Trump, a signal the case is moving forward despite attempts by the Justice Department to intervene. https://t.co/uGsRAi3xhx
— ABC News (@ABC) November 12, 2020
With Trump leaving office, it is unlikely that he’ll find judges and lawyers are quite as willing to work with him or give him any special accommodations. At this point, it’s time that Trump was held accountable for his actions, and that accountability should not be covered by U.S. taxpayers.
Roberta Kaplan wrote previously in a legal brief that:
‘There is not a single person in the United States — not the president and not anyone else — whose job description includes slandering women they sexually assaulted. That should not be a controversial proposition. Remarkably, however, the Justice Department seeks to prove it wrong.’
Federal judge allows E. Jean Carroll's lawsuit against Trump to move ahead next month https://t.co/2PNcUeqKAv
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) November 13, 2020
