Protecting the office

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday evening argued in favor of defending former President Trump in a lawsuit filed by E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of raping her in the 1990s, with federal lawyers adopting the notion that Trump could not be sued for defamation for statements he made while acting as president.

The New York Times reports that the DOJ, which weighed in on the case for the first time under President Biden, appeared to use Trump's position that remarks he made about Carroll were protected as part of his official duties as president, though it acknowledged his words were “crude and disrespectful." The position could lead to Carroll's lawsuit being dismissed, the Times reported.

  The Hill

Oh, no. No. No. No. No. No.

In November, before Trump left office, the first federal judge to hear the case ruled the DOJ could not defend Trump and blocked the department's attempts to intervene in the lawsuit, allowing the suit to move forward. The Justice Department later appealed that decision.

[...]

In April, Carroll urged the DOJ under the Biden administration to not defend Trump in her lawsuit against him. Carroll's attorneys wrote that the argument Trump should be protected from the lawsuit because of his presidential status was "wrong."

But Justice Department lawyers argued in the Monday brief that Trump had been acting within the scope of his office when he denied from the White House that he raped Carroll.

[...]

“Elected public officials can — and often must — address allegations regarding personal wrongdoing that inspire doubt about their suitability for office,” attorneys for the DOJ argued in the Monday filing. “Officials do not step outside the bounds of their office simply because they are addressing questions regarding allegations about their personal lives.”

Bullshit.

Give him a minute or two; he'll defame her again while he's not president, but this is a very bad precedent to set. The crap presidents can get away with is already outsized.  It should be reined in, not expanded.

....but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE: