CNN —

Lawyers for E. Jean Carroll argued that former President Donald Trump acted with private motives when he denied raping the ex-magazine columnist and they urged the DC Court of Appeals to reject his claim that his allegedly defamatory statements were made as part of his job as president.

“Trump did not attack Carroll intending to advance any federal interest. Instead, he lied to protect himself from the truth and to destroy Carroll for daring to speak up,” Carroll’s attorneys wrote Thursday in a filing with the DC Court of Appeals. “Presidents are free to deny allegations of misconduct. But a White House job is not a promise of unlimited authority to brutalize victims of prior wrongdoing through vicious, personal, defamatory attacks. That is not the law—and this Court should not make it so.”

The question of whether Trump acted within the scope of his duties as president when he denied Carroll’s allegation that he raped her in the mid-1990s will likely decide whether her defamation lawsuit – one of several legal clouds hanging over the 2024 White House candidate – moves forward.

Carroll sued Trump for defamation in 2019 for denying the rape, saying she was not his type and saying she fabricated the allegations to boost sales of her book. Trump and the Justice Department argued that he was acting within the scope of his duties as president when he answered reporters’ questions about the allegations. A federal judge sided with Carroll. The Justice Department and Trump...

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