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Donald Trump has been trying to get out of paying E. Jean Carroll the $83 million that she won in court after Trump spent years defaming her. It wasn’t enough for Trump to be an adjudicated rapist. He has continued to defame Carroll and rack up losses in court.
Now he is trying to get out of paying, and he wants the taxpayers to foot the bill for his appeal by having the DOJ represent him in court.
ABC News reported that the appeals court told Trump no:
American taxpayers will not be paying for the ongoing appeal of President Donald Trump’s $83 million defamation case, a federal appeals court determined on Wednesday.
A panel of judges on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday denied Trump’s request to have Justice Department lawyers argue in his appeal of columnist E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case against Trump.
Trump, through the DOJ, tried to make the absurd argument that defaming E. Jean Carroll was part of the scope of his duties as president. The reasoning was that Trump defamed Carroll during a speech he was giving as president.
In Trump’s view, anything he does as president falls under the scope of official duties, and the taxpayers should be on the hook for the cost.
The appeals court ruling is important beyond the Carroll case because it is an example of the courts making a distinction that some things a president does are not official acts.
The Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling was overly broad, but it did leave room for interpretation. The question of what constitutes an official presidential act has not been fully defined, and at the very least, the country now understands that defamation is not considered an official presidential act.
What do you think about Trump having to pay for his own appeal? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
