In the legal dispute following a rape allegation against ex-President Donald Trump, an appeals court wants to deal with a central question for the proceedings in January. The question is whether he denied the accusation as part of his job as US President. The court in the capital Washington yesterday scheduled a hearing on the issue for January 10th.
Trump was accused by author E. Jean Carroll in 2019 of raping her in a New York department store in the 1990s. He rejected the accusation: “First, she’s not my type. Second, it never happened.” Carroll then sued Trump for portraying her as a liar and thus defaming her.
Was Trump acting as part of his presidential job?
Trump’s lawyers pointed out that as president and thus part of the government, he could not be personally sued for defamation. Because his statement was made in the White House after questions from journalists. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals in Washington is now asking whether Trump acted as part of his presidential job. If it comes to this conclusion, the US Department of Justice would stand in for Trump in the process.
The court emphasized in its decision that in order to answer the question, it should clarify the scope of a US president’s employment relationship. However, Trump could have undermined his lawyers’ line of defense when he recently called the allegation a lie – now definitely as a private person.
That could give Carroll an opportunity to update her lawsuit. In addition, according to a new New York law, she could soon sue herself with the rape allegation. It opens the way to court for those affected by sexual violence in cases that occurred a long time ago, in which the period for criminal charges had originally expired.
