[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] U.S. President Donald Trump, who was sued for defamation by women claiming sexual assault, argued again in the second trial that "the president is immune."
According to Bloomberg News on the 16th (local time), President Trump requested the federal appellate court in Manhattan, New York City, on the previous afternoon to overturn the October last year’s first trial court ruling that he is not subject to the Westfall Act of 1988.
The Westfall Act is a kind of immunity privilege that federal government employees cannot be personally sued for actions taken in the course of their official duties.
In 2019, famous columnist E. Jean Carroll claimed that she was sexually assaulted by Trump in the mid-1990s in a luxury department store dressing room in Manhattan. President Trump responded to reporters, saying, "I’m very sorry, but she’s not my type and that never happened."
President Trump also raised suspicions that Carroll lied to sell many memoirs and conspired with the Democratic Party.
Due to these remarks, Trump was sued for defamation by Carroll and tried to escape by applying the Westfall Act, but the first trial court dismissed Trump’s claim, citing that the remarks concerned actions before his presidential election.
Mark Kasowitz, the lawyer defending President Trump, argued in a document submitted to the appellate court, "The president is clearly a government employee, and Congress clearly included the president under the protection of the Westfall Act."
The federal Department of Justice also came to support.
In a separate opinion, the Department of Justice stated, "The remarks by President Trump, which are the subject of the defamation controversy, were made in response to claims challenging his fitness for office, and the president acted within the scope of his office to mitigate personal issues that could undermine his policy capabilities."
If the court accepts these claims, the defendant in the defamation lawsuit will change from President Trump personally to the U.S. federal government. Since the government cannot be the subject of defamation lawsuits, the case would be dismissed immediately, Bloomberg News explained.
The key issue is how the incoming Joe Biden administration, which will take office next week, will judge this matter.
Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney, pressured in a statement on the day, "We want the new Department of Justice under the Biden administration to carefully and thoroughly examine whether it agrees with the claim that Trump’s hateful defamation remarks were made within the scope of the presidency."
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