Justice Department intervenes on behalf of Trump in lawsuit of writer accusing him of sexual assault

The Justice Department intervened on behalf of President Donald Trump in a defamation lawsuit filed against him by writer E. Jean Carroll,

.

In this way, the department - an independent federal agency of the presidency whose purpose is to enforce the law - seeks that the case be taken to a federal court and that the Government and not Donald Trump is the defendant in the lawsuit.

This is an extremely unusual move

, which has been justified by the Department of Justice attorneys under the

.

According to them, the legislation allows the attorney general, William Barr, the head of the department, to transfer a case to federal court, if a government employee was acting within his or her capacity as an official during the incident.

[Former attorney Michael Cohen calls Trump a racist "cult leader" and says he despised Obama and other black leaders]

"Because the President was acting within the scope of his office or employment when the incident from which the plaintiff's claim arose occurred, the United States will file a motion to replace President Trump in this action ..." the department argued in court documents.

"Trump's effort to use the power of the United States Government to evade responsibility for his private misconduct is unprecedented," Carroll's attorney Roberta A. Kaplan said in a statement, "and shows even more clearly that where he is willing to go to prevent the truth from coming out. "

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Sept.

8, 202001: 45

In June of last year, opinion columnist

in Manhattan, New York, in the fall of 1995 or spring of 1996, according to the account of the events he did in

She described how an initially friendly encounter with Trump, who was then a famous businessman, turned violent when he pushed her against the locker room and unzipped her pants as he pounced on her.

Carroll said he pushed him and managed to run out of the store.

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Trump denied the accusation and even assured that he did not know her and that he had never seen her in his life, although she showed a photo in which she appears next to him.

"It's not my type," "never happened," said the president.

Carroll did not press charges with the NYPD and says there were no witnesses at the time of the alleged assault.

Carroll filed a defamation lawsuit against Trump in November 2019, alleging that the president had called her a liar, both for "express statements and deliberate implications," in denying the allegations.

Earlier this year,

for "analysis and comparison with unidentified male DNA" found on the dress she was wearing at the time of the alleged assault. .

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The Justice Department intervention comes after a New York state judge denied a request by Trump, who is seeking reelection in November, to temporarily halt the lawsuit.

In a tweet Tuesday night, Carroll responded to the agency run by William Barr and assured that she and her attorney, Roberta Kaplan, are prepared.

"Sir, my attorney Robbie Kaplan and I are ready! So are all the women who have been silenced! As well as all the American citizens who have been trampled on by Bill Barr and the Department of Justice! BRING IT ON!" Carroll wrote.

[A "cool" guy who enjoys "younger" girls.

This is how Trump described this millionaire accused of sexual abuse]

At least 16 women, including Carroll, have brought allegations of sexual abuse against the president, who has denied the conduct on all occasions.

With information from NBC News, The Washington Post and New York Magazine.