I still say part of this is about Trump can't afford a lawyer and/or no actual lawyer will represent him. New York Times:
While the Justice Department has used the law to shield members of Congress from being sued for defamation over things they have said, the department has rarely, if ever, used it to grant immunity to a president.
But Judge Kaplan, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994, ruled against the department’s maneuver, saying Mr. Trump was not acting in his official capacity when he denied the accusation.
“His comments concerned an alleged sexual assault that took place several decades before he took office, and the allegations have no relationship to the official business of the United States,” the judge wrote.
The ruling keeps Carroll's lawsuit alive. If it had gone the other way, she would have no legal options to pursue her defamation claim.
Carroll's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, lauded the ruling Tuesday.
"The simple truth is that President Trump defamed our client because she was brave enough to reveal that he had sexually assaulted her, and that brutal, personal attack cannot be attributed to the Office of the President," she said in statement.
As Lawrence Tribe says, "Duh!"
