In a divided opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Tuesday found that former President Donald Trump was a federal employee entitled to absolute immunity under the Westfall Act when he allegedly defamed author E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of rape.

The ruling reverses the findings of U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York that the U.S. Department of Justice could not substitute itself for Trump. Kaplan wrote in his October 2020 ruling that “[w]hile commenting on the operation of government is part of the regular business of the United States, commenting on sexual assault allegations unrelated to the operation of government is not.”

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