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COVID restrictions short-circuit E. Jean Carroll defamation hearing against Trump

A federal judge abruptly adjourned a Wednesday hearing in the defamation case brought against President Donald Trump by E. Jean Carroll, after the government lawyer tapped to argue a key issue was denied access to the New York courthouse because of coronavirus restrictions imposed by the state.

The Justice Department was set to defend its claim that it should be allowed to enter the case on Trump's behalf in which Carroll accused the president of defaming her last year when denied the former magazine writer's claims that he had raped her in the dressing room of a New York City department store in the mid-1990s.

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But just before the afternoon hearing, Justice requested a postponement claiming that its designated lawyer, who had traveled from Virginia, was denied entry because Virginia had been added to a list of jurisdictions from which New York bans travel.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ultimately denied the request, saying that he would issue a ruling based on the written submissions in the case.

E. Jean Carroll on June 23, 2019, in New York.
E. Jean Carroll on June 23, 2019, in New York.

Kaplan had offered the government the options of substituting another approved lawyer, arguing the case remotely or foregoing arguments in favor of the written submissions.

Justice chose the latter, and Kaplan ended the hearing, denying a request by Carroll's lawyer to submit additional arguments in writing.

"I'm sorry so many people were inconvenienced," the judge said.

Last month, the Justice Department's Civil Division submitted court papers to substitute the United States as the defendant in the case, citing the Westfall Act which provides public officials broad protections against claims based on their public statements.

"Numerous courts have recognized that elected officials act within the scope of their office or employment when speaking with the press, including with respect to personal matters, and have therefore approved the substitution of the United States in defamation actions," the filing by Justice lawyer Stephen Terrell said.

The former Elle magazine writer says Trump raped her at Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury New York City department store, in the mid-1990s. She accused him of defamation in 2019 after he said the incident never occurred.

A New York state court has rejected Trump’s claim of immunity from the private lawsuit. Carroll has been seeking a DNA sample as possible evidence and to have Trump deposed under oath.

"Trump was soon going to be required to produce documents, provide a DNA sample, and sit for a deposition," Carroll's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said in a statement.

But the state proceedings were put on hold when the Justice Department sought to intervene.

Attorney General William Barr has defended his department's action as routine under the Westfall Act, which allows state law tort claims against federal employees to be moved to federal court, with the United States as the defendant.

"This was a normal application of the law. The law is clear. It is done frequently," Barr said last month.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: E. Jean Carroll vs. Trump: COVID limits keep DOJ lawyer out of court