Former President Donald Trump criticized the Department of Justice (DOJ) for reversing their position on whether he should have presidential immunity on comments he made regarding the defamation lawsuit against him by E. Jean Carroll.
On his Truth Social platform Wednesday, Mr. Trump referred to the DOJ’s refusal to grant presidential immunity as “horrible” before adding, “We are strongly appealing this travesty of justice!”
Ms. Carroll, an author, claims that Mr. Trump raped her in the mid-1990s at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York—an accusation Mr. Trump has refuted. As a result, in 2019 and 2022, Ms. Carroll filed lawsuits against him on charges of defamation and then battery and defamation, respectively.
Although the DOJ initially decided, in reference to the Westfall Act, that Mr. Trump was speaking within his capacity as president at the time of his public denials, the department has changed course.
Mr. Trump’s criticism of the DOJ stems from Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton’s July 11 letter to attorneys for Ms. Caroll and Mr. Trump, which explained the DOJ’s “determination not to certify under the Westfall Act” after all.
Among his social media posts, the former president asserted, “The DOJ will not defend me in the E. Jean Carroll civil case, which is all part of the political Witch Hunt, lawyered up by a political operative who I just beat in another case, financed by a big political funder, and ‘judged’ by a Clinton appointee who truly hates ‘TRUMP.’”
He reiterated that his previous public comments about Ms. Carroll are factual and went on to write, “The Carroll civil case against me is a Miscarriage of Justice and a total Scam.”
According to Mr. Boynton’s letter, the department couldn’t certify Mr. Trump “was acting within the scope of his office and employment as President of the United States when he made the statements that form the basis of the defamation claims in plaintiff’s Amended Complaint in this action.”
The DOJ didn’t respond to a request for comment from NTD News.
Lawyers for Mr. Trump have unsuccessfully tried to have the lawsuit dismissed. They have also argued he should be granted absolute presidential immunity in the case.
In May 2023, a jury awarded $5 million in damages to Ms. Carroll, on the grounds that Mr. Trump was liable for sexual abuse and defamation.
The ex-president scoffed at that verdict, referring to the author as a “completely unknown to me woman” who conjured up a “ridiculous story, wrote it in a book to increase publicity and sales.”
On Thursday, after it was announced the White House cocaine probe had ended without pinpointing a suspect, Mr. Trump criticized what he called the “greatest Witch Hunt of all time” in a post on Truth Social.