This site has already noted – too many times – that it is very difficult to tell the difference between Merrick Garland and Bill Barr. Not only has Garland refused to investigate (in any way that Rep. Schiff can see) Trump’s post-election actions, but in one of the very early shocking decisions, Garland decided to continue DOJ’s defense of Trump as a defendant in E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit.

Trump said “she’s not my type” and then denied it ever happened. She sued him for libel, clearly a personal lawsuit that doesn’t fall under a president’s “duties.” Barr allowed DOJ to defend Trump instead of having Trump’s personal lawyers do it, and then, shockingly, Merrick Garland continued the representation.

Now the Justice Department is trying to get Trump out of even being a defendant and saying that the U.S. government is the proper defendant because – as Buzzfeed notes:

It’s a move that would almost certainly get Carroll’s lawsuit tossed out, since the government is shielded by what’s known as sovereign immunity against libel claims. A district court judge rejected that effort by DOJ and Trump in October 2020, and they appealed; the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit heard arguments on Friday.

That comment jumped out to Second Circuit Judge Denny Chin, who pressed Trump’s personal attorney Alina Habba to explain why the court should find that making that kind of comment was within Trump’s “scope of employment” as president.

“Who is he serving when he says something like, ‘she’s not my type?’ Is he serving the United States of America when he makes that statement?” 

Himself. DOJ continued to argue that Carroll’s suit was meritless and that Trump wasn’t trying to hide behind the government’s immunity, but really pressed a separate point:

But echoing the Justice Department’s position, she said that “what is of monumental importance right now is that this is not a political matter. This is not about being a Democrat or a Republican. It is solely to protect the presidency as an institution.”

It is more important than ever to protect the presidency from being politicized while recognizing that any ruling made against one president will open the door for similar moves against another. There is also concern that anything the democrats accuse Trump of doing will be matched, doubled, by Republicans.

On the other hand, if one isn’t prepared to hold Trump accountable for January 6th or this type of libel suit, then why even have a court system or a government, for that matter?

Yes, Republicans will bring similar lawsuits, but at the end of the day, Biden is not going to try to overthrow the government, nor is he going to respond to a rape allegation, at all, never mind with; “She’s not my type.”

At some point, Trump needs to face ramifications for his actions. He has spent a lifetime getting away with them and “She’s not my type” is not a presidential duty.

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[email protected] and on Substack: Legal Issues when a child monster is raised by monsters

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