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A Washington, D.C., appeals court on Tuesday heard arguments on whether former President Donald Trump should be immune from a writer’s defamation lawsuit against him over his denial that he sexually assaulted her.
The outcome will not only decide if the lawsuit can proceed, but it could also impact Trump by potentially allowing him to be subjected to more defamation lawsuits.
Trump’s lawyers contend that their client’s denials came as responses to reporters asking about the case brought against him by E. Jean Caroll—a former advice columnist who claims Trump raped her in the mid-1990s—and that comments to the press were part of his job as president.
Lawyers for Carroll argue that Trump’s denials were made as a private citizen, and he should thus be subject to lawsuits without the immunity of a president.
A ruling is not expected for weeks, but should Carroll prevail, Trump could be facing even further legal troubles.
“If the D.C. Court of Appeals rules in Trump’s favor, Carroll’s case will in all likelihood be dismissed,” Julie Rendelman, a New York City-based defense attorney and former prosecutor, told Newsweek.
She added, “However, if they find that Trump’s words were not made in his official capacity as president, that could open the door to additional suits against Trump, assuming they are brought within the statute of limitations.”
Carroll first made her sexual allegations against Trump in June 2019, and she sued him for defamation after he denied her claims while using language that was arguably insulting. Alina Habba, an attorney for Trump, told the panel of judges on Tuesday that Trump fielding questions about Carroll’s accusations was “an issue of public concern.”
Joshua Matz, an attorney for Carroll, told the court otherwise and added that ruling against his client would allow other public officials to defame citizens without the risk of consequences.
“I believe a lot of reasons to think that Mr. Trump was acting and making these statements on the basis of personal motives, and that this went way beyond—subjectively in his own mind—any desire to serve the interests of the people of the United States or to simply assure people with his fitness for office,” Matz said.
Matz added that if the panel ruled against Carroll, then “anyone who says something critical of a public official is at risk of open season on them with essentially complete impunity, which has never been understood to be the law.”
Attorney Andrew M. Lieb, the managing partner of Lieb at Law, P.C., told Newsweek that Trump’s argument hinges on the Westfall Act, which is a law passed by Congress in 1988 that protects federal employees from common law tort lawsuits if a “claim arose out of acts undertaken in the course of official duties.”
“Yet, is denying a rape allegation from decades earlier part of a president’s official duties?” Lieb said. “Trump claims that it is because a president’s job is to address public concerns about his fitness for his job.”
Rendelman noted that no matter what the appeals court rules, Carroll could still pursue defamation against Trump due to a second lawsuit she filed in the fall.
That lawsuit pertains to “comments Trump made after he left office, so regardless of what happens in her initial lawsuit, it does not appear that Trump’s team can claim immunity in the second instance,” Rendelman said.
The comments referenced in the second lawsuit come from a Truth Social message Trump posted in October 2022 in which he said he didn’t know Carroll and that she made the story up.
“It is a Hoax and a lie, just like all the other Hoaxes that have been played on me for the past seven years. And, while I am not supposed to say it, I will. This woman is not my type!” Trump wrote.
Lieb said Carroll’s other lawsuit also accuses Trump of battery for the alleged rape in the 1990s and was filed under New York’s Adult Survivor’s Act, a new law which removed the statute of limitations for certain civil claims regarding past sexual offenses for one year.
“Either way, the country wants to know how broad a president’s authority is to lie to the American people and commit defamation, so we will be paying close attention to the decision of the D.C. court,” Lieb said.
Newsweek reached out to Trump for comment.
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