White House asked DOJ to defend Trump in defamation case, Barr says

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/09/politics/barr-carroll-trump-defamation/index.html

 The White House asked the Justice Department to take over the defense of President Donald Trump in a defamation lawsuit filed by a woman who has accused Trump of sexual assault in the 1990s, Attorney General William Barr said Wednesday.

Because Trump addressed and denied the accusations by E. Jean Carroll while serving as president, Barr said, the federal government is allowed to step in.

The attorney general also said politics is to blame for the reaction to the Justice Department paying for Trump's defense and possibly killing the lawsuit.

CNN legal analyst and University of Texas law professor Steve Vladeck said Barr's comments are misleading when it comes to the President.

 "Yes, DOJ 'frequently' seeks to take over tort claims against federal employees," Vladeck said. "But there's no 'frequent' history of doing so when the defendant is the President -- or of waiting as long as DOJ did here to invoke the statute."