华盛顿特区上诉法院的法官周二表示不愿意发现当时的总统唐纳德·特朗普2019年的工作范围内行事，当时他在否认E. Jean Carroll的强奸指控的过程中，据称诽谤她，称她为骗子并说她“不是我的类型”。
结果将决定卡罗尔在曼哈顿联邦法院的诽谤案能否继续进行。
特朗普试图让美国政府取代他成为被告，乔·拜登总统领导下的司法部继续支持这一立场。然而，要做到这一点，华盛顿特区上诉法院必须裁定特朗普在涉嫌诽谤卡罗尔时是在他作为总统的范围内行事。
前Elle专栏作家卡罗尔声称特朗普在1990年代在Bergdorf Goodman的更衣室强奸了她。
周二，司法部律师马克弗里曼敦促法院发现否认卡罗尔的说法是特朗普工作的一部分。
“解决公众争议问题是民选官员工作的一部分，”弗里曼在特朗普律师阿丽娜·哈巴(Alina Habba)回应的论点中说。
“这是强加给他的，他在工作中回应媒体，”哈巴说。
法官凯瑟琳·伊斯特利(Catherine Easterly)质疑法院是否可以在法律上决定特朗普的行为是否是工作的一部分。
“法院从未这样做过，”伊斯特利说。
卡罗尔的诉讼定于四月开庭审理。然而，用美国代替特朗普将结束此案，因为联邦政府不能因诽谤而被起诉。
“确定某事在就业范围内通常不会对个别员工免疫，”法官罗伊麦克利斯说。
卡罗尔的律师坚称，特朗普否认她的强奸指控纯粹是出于个人原因，并且以一种超出政府雇员正常的方式。
“当有人指责一位知名官员性侵犯他们时，他们回应说'好吧，她不是我的类型'，我们的立场是，这是某种程度的动机的证据，超出了与工作相关的，”卡罗尔的律师约书亚马茨说。
卡罗尔在11月第二次起诉特朗普，指控纽约的一项新法律允许成年性侵犯受害者提出索赔，否则这些索赔将被时间的流逝所禁止。
她的新诉讼还指控了对特朗普在 2022 年 10 月发表的言论的第二次诽谤指控。
特朗普在他的社交媒体平台Truth Social上的一篇文章中称卡罗尔的说法是“骗局和谎言”。“而且，虽然我不应该说出来，但我会说的。这个女人不是我的类型!“帖子补充说。
“特朗普10月12日关于卡罗尔的虚假，侮辱和诽谤性声明 - 以及他发表该声明的实际恶意 - 完全符合他久经考验的剧本，以回应可靠的公开报道，即他性侵犯女性，”诉讼说。
Judges reluctant to say Trump was acting as president when he allegedly defamed E. Jean Carroll
Judges from the D.C. Court of Appeals expressed reluctance Tuesday to find that then-President Donald Trump acted within the scope of his employment in 2019 when he, in the course of denying a rape claim by E. Jean Carroll, allegedly defamed her by calling her a liar and saying she was "not my type."
The outcome will determine whether Carroll's defamation case in Manhattan federal court can proceed.
Trump has sought to have the U.S. government substitute for him as the defendant, a position that the Justice Department under President Joe Biden has continued to support. However for that to occur, the D.C. Court of Appeals must decide that Trump was acting within the bounds of his employment as president when he allegedly defamed Carroll.
Carroll, a former Elle columnist, alleged that Trump raped her in the dressing room of Bergdorf Goodman in the 1990s.
On Tuesday, Justice Department lawyer Mark Freeman urged the court to find it was part of Trump's job to deny Carroll's claim.
"It is part of the job of elected officials to address matters of public controversy," Freeman said in an argument echoed by Alina Habba, an attorney for Trump.
"This was thrust upon him and he was responding to press in his job," Habba said.
Judge Catherine Easterly questioned whether the court, as a matter of law, could decide whether Trump's conduct was part of the job.
"The court has never done that," Easterly said.
Carroll's lawsuit is set for trial in April. The substitution of the United States for Trump would, however, end the case since the federal government cannot be sued for defamation.
"A determine that something is within scope of employment doesn't normally immunize the individual employee," Judge Roy McLeese said.
Carroll's attorney insisted that Trump denied her rape claim for purely personal reasons and in a manner that was outside the norm for a government employee.
"When someone accuses a prominent official of sexually assaulting them and they respond and say 'Well she's not my type,' our position is that is evidence of some degree of motivation that goes beyond job-related, " Carroll's attorney, Joshua Matz, said.
Carroll sued Trump for a second time in November, alleging battery under a new law in New York that allows adult sex assault victims to file claims that would otherwise be barred by the passage of time.
Her new lawsuit also alleged a second claim of defamation over statements Trump made in October 2022.
Trump called Carroll's claim "a Hoax and a lie" in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. "And, while I am not supposed to say it, I will. This woman is not my type!" the post added.
"Trump's false, insulting, and defamatory October 12 statement about Carroll -- and his actual malice in making that statement -- is fully consistent with his tried-and-true playbook for responding to credible public reports that he sexually assaulted women," the lawsuit said.
