Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) has decided Donald Trump’s comments about the now-failed rape accusations by gossip writer E Jean Carroll are no longer protected, even though he was President of the United States at the time, and simply responding to press questions from reporters.
Previously, both Trump and Biden’s White House said the remarks were protected.
The move comes as the DOJ is pursuing the former president through the courts, and clears the way for yet another law suit lodged by Carroll, set to proceed in January.
In a separate suit, jurors in New York found Trump was not liable for raping Carroll in a luxury department store decades ago, as she claims. They did find he was liable for sexual abuse and defamation, however. Trump is appealing the unusual verdict and counter-suing Carroll, while Carroll is seeking further damages as Trump has continued to publicly deny attacking her.
Carroll’s New York lawsuit was funded by Fusion GPS-linked Democrat billionaire Reid Hoffman – though she initially denied having outside help, and the Democrat-appointed judge in the civil case ruled jurors could not be told about his role.
The 79-year-old advice columnist has accused many people of sexually attacking her throughout her life, including a small boy, a babysitter’s boyfriend, a camp counsellor, a dentist, a youth she dated in college, an unnamed former boss, and CBS chief executive Les Moonves. There is no indication she has ever pursued criminal charges against any of her alleged attackers.
