The Justice Department moved Tuesday to take over President Trump's defense in a defamation suit filed by author E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of raping her in a Manhattan department store dressing room during the 1990s.
Carroll sued Trump last year after he called her a liar and claimed he had never met her before. In court papers, Justice Department lawyers argued that they should be able to replace Trump's private attorneys because he made his comments about Carroll while in office. The DOJ cited the Federal Tort Claims Act, which is an extremely unusual move, University of Texas law professor Steve Vladeck told The New York Times. Lawyers for the government have never before tried to use the law to include the actions of a president conducted before he took office, he explained.
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