Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the U.S. Supreme Court on July 28 to intervene in the defamation dispute between President Donald Trump and writer E. Jean Carroll.
The DOJ is arguing in the petition in United States v. Carroll that the federal government - not Trump personally - should be the defendant in the case that led to an $83.3 million verdict against Trump.
At the same time, Trump’s private attorneys filed a petition with the high court in the case of Trump v. Carroll, asking the justices to review the same verdict, largely on grounds of presidential immunity.
The DOJ’s petition, a copy of which was obtained by The Epoch Times, focuses on the federal Westfall Act, which shields federal employees from personal liability for common law tort lawsuits arising from their government employment.
Common law refers to the body of law developed over centuries by court rulings, as opposed to statutes passed by legislatures. A tort is a wrongful act or infringement of a right that gives rise to civil liability.
When the U.S. attorney general certifies that a federal employee—including a president—was actin
