Recommendations of the Editorial team
Donald Trump’s Justice Department wants the Supreme Court to allow the DOJ to intervene in the $83.3 million verdict that E. Jean Carroll obtained in her defamation lawsuit against the President.
According to a Bloomberg report on Wednesday, the DOJ hopes the court will grant a request to make the federal government the liable party in place of Trump. But since the government can’t be sued for defamation, the case would be dropped – and Trump would get off scot-free if the Supreme Court approved the swap.
The DOJ argues it is entitled to intervene because Trump was acting in his capacity as a government official at the time he defamed Carroll, it alleges.
DOJ as Trump’s tool
It is another example of the Trump administration acting in the interests of the president and not the interests of the American people. The DOJ appears to function as a tool through which Trump pursues personal vendettas. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche recently announced he would file charges against former FBI Director James Comey for posting an “86 47” message made of seashells on social media. Trump has also used the department to enrich himself: Last year, he demanded that the DOJ pay him $230 million in taxpayer money as compensation for facing various criminal investigations during his first term in office.
Carroll made it public in 2019 that the president was said to have sexually abused her in a department store in the 1990s. In a series of civil cases, a jury found Trump liable for sexual assault and found that the then-former president had repeatedly defamed Carroll in public attacks. In 2023, Trump was ordered to pay Carroll $5 million; In a separate ruling in early 2024, a further $83.3 million was added.
Trump has repeatedly tried to overturn the verdicts. Last week, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected Trump’s attempt to invoke presidential immunity. “The fact is that no other defendant would be permitted to substitute the United States as a substitute party 15 months after the trial and entry of judgment,” the court wrote in its decision.
Carroll is planning a documentary
Carroll herself has stated that she wants to use the money she receives from the president for charity. A new documentary about her – “Ask E. Jean” – is scheduled to be released later this month, which will examine her career as a columnist and her legal battle against the president.
