E. Jean Carroll scores huge new victory over Donald Trump
The DOJ announced today that it’s no longer representing Donald Trump in the E. Jean Carroll case. I tried to tell you all along that the DOJ was never actually going to represent Trump in any trial. It was just nominally stuck “representing” Trump by Bill Barr, and has presumably been looking for a legal out ever since. Today it apparently found an out.
Barr forced the DOJ to start representing Trump in this case by arguing that Trump’s actions were workplace conduct and the government was his employer. That was BS. But once you’re representing someone, you’re not legally allowed to quit without a specific reason.
If I had to guess – and this is just a guess – I’d say that once the courts agreed to amend Carroll’s suit to include Trump’s most recent remarks, that finally gave the DOJ a legal basis for saying hey, this very clearly isn’t about his workplace anymore so we’re withdrawing.
In any case, this notion that Merrick Garland and the DOJ were *choosing* to represent Trump in this matter was always an absurd one. It was pure outrage fodder peddled by pundits who either don’t know how legal things work, or were counting on you not knowing how legal things work.
Some of you will inevitably ask why Merrick Garland didn’t just explain this. That’s not his job. It was the job of the political pundits on MSNBC and Twitter who instead used it as an opportunity to manufacture outrage against Garland for the sake of ratings.
In any case today marks yet another instance of a Trump-Barr scheme ultimately being undone by the justice system. It’s a great day for E. Jean Carroll, who already won one suit against Trump and is now in position to win another. And that makes it a great day for the rule of law all around.
