一个由三名法官组成的陪审团将考虑前总统唐纳德·特朗普可以要求总统豁免作家E. Jean Carroll因2019年对她的言论而寻求的损害赔偿。

卡罗尔，前Elle杂志专栏作家，2019年11月起诉特朗普卡罗尔公开指控他20世纪90年代在曼哈顿百货公司更衣室强奸她后不久，他发表了评论。在特朗普否认这一指控的声明中，特朗普表示卡罗尔“不是我喜欢的类型”，并表示她出于不可告人的不正当目的捏造了她的指控，包括增加她当时即将出版的书的销量。

在周一的听证会上，美国第一巡回上诉法院的三名法官小组询问特朗普的律师，为什么特朗普没有在案件的早些时候提出总统豁免权辩护。

“为什么不呢?”玛丽亚·卡恩法官在口头辩论中问道。

特朗普的律师迈克尔·马迪奥(Michael Madaio)辩称，司法部门不能排除这位前总统想要通过援引豁免权来为自己辩护的可能性。否则，马达约说，“分权将被削弱。”

卡罗尔的律师约书亚·马茨(Joshua Matz)称这种说法是“胡说八道”，并指出特朗普有充足的时间来提高总统豁免权，但却援引了其他辩护。

“一个认为自己拥有豁免权的政党不会像以前那样行事，”马茨说。

听证会一度转向总统言论限制的话题，当时法官何塞·卡布拉内斯(Jose Cabranes)询问法庭是否需要在特朗普否认卡罗尔的强奸指控和他涉嫌诽谤性攻击她的人格之间划清界限。

E.2023年4月26日，简·卡罗尔离开曼哈顿纽约法院南区。

Luiz c . Ribeiro/纽约每日新闻/TNS via Newscom，文件

卡罗尔的律师提到了特朗普的行为2021年1月6日，作为一个“在公开场合可以畅所欲言”的总统的后果的例子

该委员会没有立即做出裁决，但表示将对此事进行考虑。

在一名地区法院法官不允许他寻求豁免辩护后，特朗普向第一巡回法院提起上诉，部分原因是他花了三年时间才提出豁免辩护。

该案目前定于明年1月开庭审理。

该案件的法官已经认定特朗普的言论是诽谤性的，因此审判将只确定损害赔偿。卡罗尔想要1000万美元。

卡罗尔在第二次诉讼中胜诉去年5月，她被指控诽谤和殴打，并获得了500万美元的赔偿金。特朗普也在对此案进行上诉。

Court will decide if Trump has presidential immunity against E. Jean Carroll's 2019 damage claims

A three-judge panel will consider whether former PresidentDonald Trumpcan claim presidential immunity against damages sought by the writer E. Jean Carroll for remarks he made about her in 2019.

Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist,sued Trump in November 2019over comments he made shortly after Carroll publicly accused him of raping her in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the 1990s. In statements Trump made denying the accusation, Trump said Carroll was "not my type" and suggested she fabricated her accusation for ulterior and improper purposes, including to increase sales of her then-forthcoming book.

In a hearing Monday, the three-judge panel from the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asked Trump's attorneys why Trump did not raise a presidential immunity defense earlier in the case.

"Why not?" Judge Maria Kahn asked during oral argument.

An attorney for Trump, Michael Madaio, argued the judiciary cannot foreclose the possibility the former president would want to defend himself by invoking an immunity defense. Otherwise, Madaio said, "separation of powers would be weakened."

An attorney for Carroll, Joshua Matz, called that argument "hokum" and pointed out how Trump had ample time to raise presidential immunity but instead invoked other defenses.

"A party who believes they are hanging onto immunity does not behave the way it behaved," Matz said.

At one point the hearing turned to the topic of the limits on presidential speech when Judge Jose Cabranes asked whether the court needed to draw a line between Trump's denial of Carroll's rape claim and his allegedly defamatory attacks on her character.

Carroll's attorney referenced Trump's actions onJan. 6, 2021, as an example of the consequences of a president who is "free to say anything he wants in public"

The panel, which did not immediately issue a ruling, said it would take the matter under advisement.

Trump appealed to the First Circuit after a district court judge did not allow him to pursue an immunity defense, in part because it took three years for him to raise it.

The case is currently scheduled to go to trial in January.

The judge in the case has already determined that Trump's statements were defamatory, so the trial will only determine damages. Carroll is seeking $10 million.

Carrollprevailed in a second lawsuitlast May that alleged defamation and battery, and she was awarded $5 million in damages. Trump is also appealing that case.