{ "attribution": { "source": "legal.exploreworldai.com", "canonical": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/judgment-text?id=us:ca2-24-644-2026-04-29", "cite_as": "NovaCopilot, legal.exploreworldai.com (https://legal.exploreworldai.com/api/public/v1/judgment-text?id=us:ca2-24-644-2026-04-29)", "license": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/revision", "version": "legal-2026-10-10", "fingerprint": "ewai:us:e7268f", "proof": "sha256:25b96784f21ac5d01b9c6a81aa7f482adb61673d2579eeb8bc7c02081137f6d3", "jurisdiction": "us", "lang": "en", "publisher": "NovaCopilot by ExploreWorld Legal", "terms": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/om" }, "brand_source": "Source: NovaCopilot", "item": { "schema_version": "1.0.0", "id": "us:ca2-24-644-2026-04-29", "jurisdiction": "us", "lang": "en", "brand_source": "Source: NovaCopilot", "brand": { "product": "NovaCopilot", "platform": "ExploreWorldAI", "infrastructure": "ExploreWorld Legal", "infrastructure_url": "legal.exploreworldai.com", "legal_entity": "Valkiv Ventures AB", "permanent_url": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/novacopilot", "source": "Source: NovaCopilot", "powered_by": "Powered by NovaCopilot", "license": "https://legal.exploreworldai.com/licensvillkor" }, "sections": [ { "title": "1", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "24-644", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Carroll v. Trump", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT", "paragraphs": [ "para_6", "para_7", "para_8" ] }, { "title": "Present:", "paragraphs": [ "para_10", "para_11", "para_12", "para_13", "para_14", "para_15", "para_16", "para_17", "para_18", "para_19", "para_20", "para_21", "para_22", "para_23", "para_24", "para_25", "para_26", "para_27" ] }, { "title": "DONALD TRUMP, IN HIS PERSONAL", "paragraphs": [ "para_29" ] }, { "title": "2", "paragraphs": [ "para_31", "para_32" ] }, { "title": "For Plaintiff-Counter-Defendant-Appellee: Roberta A. Kaplan (D. Brandon", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Trice, Maximilian T. Crema, and", "paragraphs": [ "para_35", "para_36", "para_37" ] }, { "title": "For Defendant-Counter-Claimant-Appellant: Justin D. Smith, James Otis Law", "paragraphs": [ "para_39" ] }, { "title": "Following disposition of this appeal on September 8, 2025, an active judge", "paragraphs": [ "para_41", "para_42", "para_43" ] }, { "title": "Sarah A. L. Merriam and Maria Araújo Kahn, Circuit Judges, joined by Beth", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Robinson and Myrna Pérez, Circuit Judges, concur by opinion in the denial of", "paragraphs": [ "para_46", "para_47", "para_48", "para_49" ] }, { "title": "Denny Chin, Circuit Judge, filed a statement with respect to the denial of", "paragraphs": [ "para_51" ] }, { "title": "Alison J. Nathan, Circuit Judge, took no part in the consideration or decision", "paragraphs": [ "para_53" ] }, { "title": "FOR THE COURT:", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "24-644", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Carroll v. Trump", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "MERRIAM and KAHN, Circuit Judges, writing jointly, joined by ROBINSON and PÉREZ, Circuit", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Judges, concurring in the denial of rehearing en banc:", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "We concur in the decision of the majority of the active members of the Court", "paragraphs": [ "para_61", "para_62", "para_63", "para_64", "para_65", "para_66", "para_67", "para_68" ] }, { "title": "24-644", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Carroll v. Trump", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "MENASHI, Circuit Judge, joined by PARK, Circuit Judge, and joined", "paragraphs": [ "para_72", "para_73" ] }, { "title": "In this case, the panel issued two separate decisions that are", "paragraphs": [ "para_75", "para_76", "para_77" ] }, { "title": "President “was acting within the scope of his office or employment at", "paragraphs": [ "para_79", "para_80", "para_81", "para_82", "para_83" ] }, { "title": "President Trump has petitioned for rehearing of that decision,2 and", "paragraphs": [ "para_85" ] }, { "title": "I would grant both petitions because both decisions were", "paragraphs": [ "para_87", "para_88", "para_89" ] }, { "title": "Westfall Act certification because Attorney General Garland had", "paragraphs": [ "para_91", "para_92" ] }, { "title": "1 See Petition for Panel Rehearing and En Banc Determination of the United", "paragraphs": [ "para_94", "para_95" ] }, { "title": "2 See Petition for Rehearing En Banc of President Donald J. Trump, Carroll", "paragraphs": [ "para_97" ] }, { "title": "3 See Brief for the United States as Amicus Curiae, Carroll v. Trump, No. 24-", "paragraphs": [ "para_99" ] }, { "title": "2", "paragraphs": [ "para_101" ] }, { "title": "Attorney General was ever a party to the case and subject to any", "paragraphs": [ "para_103", "para_104", "para_105", "para_106", "para_107", "para_108", "para_109", "para_110" ] }, { "title": "The panel opinion affirming the judgment then made three", "paragraphs": [ "para_112", "para_113" ] }, { "title": "(2024). It did so on the doubly erroneous premise that President", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Trump “waived” any immunity defense and that Trump v. United", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "States “simply reaffirmed long-established principles,” so nothing", "paragraphs": [ "para_117" ] }, { "title": "Trump v. United States was even decided. Carroll v. Trump, 151 F.4th", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "50, 67 (2025). That holding is not credible. Whatever one thinks about", "paragraphs": [ "para_120", "para_121" ] }, { "title": "President Trump was properly denied a jury trial. The panel reasoned", "paragraphs": [ "para_123", "para_124", "para_125", "para_126" ] }, { "title": "4 See, e.g., Trump, 603 U.S. at 685 (Sotomayor, J., dissenting) (“The", "paragraphs": [ "para_128", "para_129" ] }, { "title": "3", "paragraphs": [ "para_131", "para_132", "para_133", "para_134" ] }, { "title": "I would rehear the case en banc to bring our case law about the", "paragraphs": [ "para_136", "para_137", "para_138", "para_139" ] }, { "title": "(D). “In my view, the same rules should apply equally to all", "paragraphs": [ "para_141", "para_142" ] }, { "title": "I", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Congress enacted the Westfall Act “to protect Federal", "paragraphs": [ "para_145", "para_146", "para_147", "para_148" ] }, { "title": "The Act authorizes the Attorney General to certify “that the defendant", "paragraphs": [ "para_150", "para_151", "para_152" ] }, { "title": "First, the action will be removed to federal court if it was commenced", "paragraphs": [ "para_154" ] }, { "title": "Second, the action “shall be deemed an action against the United", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "States” and “the United States shall be substituted as the party", "paragraphs": [ "para_157", "para_158" ] }, { "title": "4", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "The paradigmatic cases of substitution under the Westfall Act", "paragraphs": [ "para_161", "para_162" ] }, { "title": "Lamagno, 515 U.S. 417, 420-21 (1995), or in which a doctor employed", "paragraphs": [ "para_164", "para_165" ] }, { "title": "Attorney General will certify that the driver or the doctor was acting", "paragraphs": [ "para_167", "para_168", "para_169" ] }, { "title": "States. “Ordinarily, scope-of-employment certifications occasion no", "paragraphs": [ "para_171" ] }, { "title": "It is a unique circumstance when this statutory framework", "paragraphs": [ "para_173", "para_174", "para_175" ] }, { "title": "591 U.S. 848, 868 (2020). This circumstance should make it easier to", "paragraphs": [ "para_177", "para_178", "para_179", "para_180", "para_181", "para_182", "para_183" ] }, { "title": "President made the allegedly defamatory statements when he issued", "paragraphs": [ "para_185" ] }, { "title": "House. Making public statements to the press is part of the President’s", "paragraphs": [ "para_187", "para_188" ] }, { "title": "5", "paragraphs": [ "para_190", "para_191" ] }, { "title": "661 (D.C. Cir. 2006) (“In this defamation action, we consider whether", "paragraphs": [ "para_193", "para_194", "para_195", "para_196", "para_197", "para_198", "para_199" ] }, { "title": "The decisions here, however, suggested that the President of", "paragraphs": [ "para_201", "para_202" ] }, { "title": "General Barr’s certification on the ground that “the question of", "paragraphs": [ "para_204", "para_205", "para_206", "para_207" ] }, { "title": "F. Supp. 3d 422, 443-44 (S.D.N.Y. 2020). The district court explained", "paragraphs": [ "para_209" ] }, { "title": "Columbia” provide that “respondeat superior liability does not", "paragraphs": [ "para_211", "para_212", "para_213", "para_214" ] }, { "title": "5 “[A] long-recognized aspect of Presidential power is using the office’s", "paragraphs": [ "para_216", "para_217", "para_218", "para_219" ] }, { "title": "6", "paragraphs": [ "para_221" ] }, { "title": "General’s certification under the Westfall Act was erroneous.” Id. at", "paragraphs": [ "para_223" ] }, { "title": "That analysis was incorrect. It meant that the President acts", "paragraphs": [ "para_225", "para_226" ] }, { "title": "President directs executive officers rather than the other way around.6", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "And the head of an organization certainly can act within the scope of", "paragraphs": [ "para_229", "para_230", "para_231", "para_232", "para_233", "para_234", "para_235" ] }, { "title": "(“[T]he occasions upon which the acts of the head of an executive", "paragraphs": [ "para_237" ] }, { "title": "6 The Constitution “establishes the President as the chief constitutional", "paragraphs": [ "para_239", "para_240", "para_241", "para_242" ] }, { "title": "FINRA, 121 F.4th 1314, 1338 (D.C. Cir. 2024) (Walker, J., concurring in the", "paragraphs": [ "para_244", "para_245", "para_246", "para_247" ] }, { "title": "Ch. May 3, 2002) (considering whether the president and chief executive", "paragraphs": [ "para_249", "para_250", "para_251" ] }, { "title": "7", "paragraphs": [ "para_253" ] }, { "title": "But that is because the higher the post, the broader the range of", "paragraphs": [ "para_255", "para_256" ] }, { "title": "Our court then compounded the error. We said that the scope", "paragraphs": [ "para_258" ] }, { "title": "District of Columbia’s respondeat superior law” but concluded that “the", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "District’s law regarding vicarious liability is sufficiently unclear that", "paragraphs": [ "para_261", "para_262" ] }, { "title": "Carroll v. Trump, 49 F.4th 759, 766-67 (2d Cir. 2022). So the Second", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Circuit asked the municipal D.C. court to answer the following", "paragraphs": [ "para_265", "para_266", "para_267", "para_268", "para_269", "para_270" ] }, { "title": "Columbia the President of the United States had acted within the", "paragraphs": [ "para_272" ] }, { "title": "The D.C. Court of Appeals answered the question only “by", "paragraphs": [ "para_274", "para_275", "para_276", "para_277", "para_278", "para_279", "para_280", "para_281" ] }, { "title": "District of Columbia recognizes that “[m]any employees have", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "8", "paragraphs": [ "para_284", "para_285", "para_286", "para_287" ] }, { "title": "This purported clarification did not clarify very much, except", "paragraphs": [ "para_289", "para_290" ] }, { "title": "House. Nevertheless, according to the panel, this trivial clarification", "paragraphs": [ "para_292", "para_293", "para_294" ] }, { "title": "Yet the panel further held that Attorney General Bondi was not", "paragraphs": [ "para_296", "para_297", "para_298", "para_299", "para_300", "para_301", "para_302", "para_303" ] }, { "title": "A", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "First, the waiver holding made no sense. The panel opinion said", "paragraphs": [ "para_306", "para_307", "para_308", "para_309", "para_310", "para_311", "para_312" ] }, { "title": "9", "paragraphs": [ "para_314" ] }, { "title": "Attorney General—or a successive Attorney General—from making", "paragraphs": [ "para_316", "para_317", "para_318", "para_319", "para_320" ] }, { "title": "Congress has not prescribed and the Constitution does not compel.”", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Garland v. Ming Dai, 593 U.S. 357, 365 (2021) (internal quotation marks", "paragraphs": [ "para_323" ] }, { "title": "At the same time, the panel opinion said that Attorney General", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Garland—unlike Attorney General Bondi—was entitled to conclude", "paragraphs": [ "para_326", "para_327", "para_328", "para_329", "para_330", "para_331", "para_332" ] }, { "title": "114 (quoting Letter, Carroll v. Trump, No. 20-CV-7311 (S.D.N.Y. June", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "9, 2023), ECF No. 166; Letter, Carroll v. Trump, No. 20-CV-7311", "paragraphs": [ "para_335" ] }, { "title": "Subsequent to Attorney General Garland’s withdrawal of the", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Barr certification, however, the United States held an election in", "paragraphs": [ "para_338", "para_339" ] }, { "title": "Appeals justified a reconsideration of the government’s position, then", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "9 See, e.g., Jonathan Turley, Donald Trump Just Won the Greatest Jury Verdict", "paragraphs": [ "para_342" ] }, { "title": "10", "paragraphs": [ "para_344", "para_345", "para_346", "para_347", "para_348", "para_349" ] }, { "title": "Ins. Co., 463 U.S. 29, 59 (1983) (Rehnquist, J., concurring in part and", "paragraphs": [ "para_351", "para_352", "para_353" ] }, { "title": "Barr’s certification decision could be revisited by Attorney General", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Garland but Attorney General Garland’s certification decision could", "paragraphs": [ "para_356" ] }, { "title": "The panel opinion indicated that, after Attorney General", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Garland’s withdrawal of the Barr certification, President Trump", "paragraphs": [ "para_359", "para_360", "para_361", "para_362", "para_363", "para_364", "para_365" ] }, { "title": "On June 27, 2023, President Trump raised as an affirmative defense", "paragraphs": [ "para_367", "para_368" ] }, { "title": "Act.” 10 Regardless, whether the employee has sought certification", "paragraphs": [ "para_370" ] }, { "title": "Affirmative Defenses and Counterclaim at 22 ¶ 19, Carroll v. Trump, No. 20-", "paragraphs": [ "para_372" ] }, { "title": "11", "paragraphs": [ "para_374" ] }, { "title": "Attorney General to certify under § 2679(d)(1) or (d)(2).11", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "B", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Second, the panel opinion misinterpreted the Westfall Act to", "paragraphs": [ "para_378", "para_379", "para_380", "para_381", "para_382", "para_383", "para_384", "para_385", "para_386" ] }, { "title": "Pursuant to the Westfall Act, there is no time limitation on a", "paragraphs": [ "para_388", "para_389" ] }, { "title": "Upon certification by the Attorney General that the", "paragraphs": [ "para_391" ] }, { "title": "11 Moreover, we do not normally require a litigant to make a futile motion", "paragraphs": [ "para_393", "para_394" ] }, { "title": "The district court had already rejected the certification of Attorney General", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Barr, it treated the withdrawal of the certification by Attorney General", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Garland as dispositive, and it indicated that it would not entertain further", "paragraphs": [ "para_398" ] }, { "title": "Order, Carroll v. Trump, No. 20-CV-7311 (S.D.N.Y. June 13, 2023), ECF", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "No. 169 (“In all the circumstances, any further submission by the United", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "States (including any new or amended certification and/or motion to", "paragraphs": [ "para_402", "para_403", "para_404" ] }, { "title": "12", "paragraphs": [ "para_406", "para_407", "para_408", "para_409", "para_410", "para_411", "para_412" ] }, { "title": "28 U.S.C. § 2679(d)(1). Everyone agrees that the Attorney General", "paragraphs": [ "para_414", "para_415", "para_416", "para_417" ] }, { "title": "Upon certification by the Attorney General that the", "paragraphs": [ "para_419", "para_420", "para_421", "para_422", "para_423" ] }, { "title": "General to the district court of the United States for the district", "paragraphs": [ "para_425" ] }, { "title": "12 See, e.g., Sullivan v. United States, 21 F.3d 198, 205 (7th Cir. 1994) (“Section", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "2679(d)(1), … which applies to suits against government employees", "paragraphs": [ "para_428", "para_429", "para_430" ] }, { "title": "(“[T]he Attorney General may file a certification under § 2679(d)(1)", "paragraphs": [ "para_432", "para_433" ] }, { "title": "Sowell v. Am. Cyanamid Co., 888 F.2d 802, 805 (11th Cir. 1989) (“Here, the", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Department of Justice has determined that Harrison was acting within the", "paragraphs": [ "para_436", "para_437", "para_438" ] }, { "title": "13", "paragraphs": [ "para_440", "para_441", "para_442", "para_443", "para_444", "para_445", "para_446" ] }, { "title": "28 U.S.C. § 2679(d)(2) (emphasis added). It makes sense that removal", "paragraphs": [ "para_448", "para_449", "para_450", "para_451", "para_452", "para_453", "para_454" ] }, { "title": "Safety Support Fund v. ATF, 984 F.3d 30, 34 (2d Cir. 2020), and there is", "paragraphs": [ "para_456", "para_457", "para_458", "para_459", "para_460", "para_461", "para_462", "para_463", "para_464" ] }, { "title": "The interpretation of the panel opinion is at odds with not only", "paragraphs": [ "para_466", "para_467", "para_468" ] }, { "title": "(internal quotation marks and alterations omitted). That means that", "paragraphs": [ "para_470" ] }, { "title": "14", "paragraphs": [ "para_472", "para_473", "para_474", "para_475" ] }, { "title": "Carroll, 148 F.4th at 113. Given this two-step process, there is no reason", "paragraphs": [ "para_477", "para_478", "para_479" ] }, { "title": "Attorney General Barr’s certification was conclusive for purposes of", "paragraphs": [ "para_481", "para_482", "para_483", "para_484", "para_485", "para_486", "para_487", "para_488" ] }, { "title": "The panel opinion insisted that its counterintuitive reading", "paragraphs": [ "para_490", "para_491", "para_492", "para_493", "para_494", "para_495", "para_496", "para_497", "para_498", "para_499", "para_500", "para_501" ] }, { "title": "15", "paragraphs": [ "para_503" ] }, { "title": "Claims Act as the proper remedy for Federal employee torts.”", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "102 Stat. at 4563-64. The need to protect federal employees does not", "paragraphs": [ "para_506", "para_507", "para_508", "para_509", "para_510", "para_511", "para_512" ] }, { "title": "The panel opinion also created a circuit split. The D.C. Circuit", "paragraphs": [ "para_514", "para_515" ] }, { "title": "States to substitute itself for [the federal employee defendant]", "paragraphs": [ "para_517" ] }, { "title": "635, 639 (D.C. Cir. 2009). The D.C. Circuit explained that “[w]hile any", "paragraphs": [ "para_519", "para_520", "para_521", "para_522", "para_523", "para_524", "para_525" ] }, { "title": "States to replace [the federal employee] as the party defendant to the", "paragraphs": [ "para_527" ] }, { "title": "16", "paragraphs": [ "para_529", "para_530" ] }, { "title": "It is unsustainable for the availability of Westfall Act", "paragraphs": [ "para_532", "para_533", "para_534", "para_535" ] }, { "title": "Circuit or would have come out differently in the other circuits if", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "President Trump had simply removed the case on the basis of", "paragraphs": [ "para_538" ] }, { "title": "Wasserman, 557 F.3d at 639; Flohr, 84 F.3d at 388 n.4; Melo, 912 F.2d at", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "640 n.15. If the circuit courts would reach different outcomes on the", "paragraphs": [ "para_541", "para_542", "para_543" ] }, { "title": "C", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Third, the panel opinion invoked these procedural and", "paragraphs": [ "para_546" ] }, { "title": "Attorneys General Barr and Bondi were correct. When a court", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "13 The Eleventh Circuit has also said that § 2679(d)(1) “governs not only", "paragraphs": [ "para_549", "para_550", "para_551" ] }, { "title": "1996). It qualified the statement by saying that the removal must be “under", "paragraphs": [ "para_553" ] }, { "title": "President Trump could have removed this case on the basis of diversity and", "paragraphs": [ "para_555" ] }, { "title": "Hafer, 912 F.2d 628, 640 n.15 (3d Cir. 1990) (allowing certification under", "paragraphs": [ "para_557", "para_558" ] }, { "title": "17", "paragraphs": [ "para_560", "para_561", "para_562", "para_563", "para_564", "para_565", "para_566", "para_567", "para_568", "para_569" ] }, { "title": "See Ballenger, 444 F.3d at 664 (explaining that a focus on whether the", "paragraphs": [ "para_571", "para_572", "para_573", "para_574", "para_575" ] }, { "title": "As a result—even assuming that the conventional framework", "paragraphs": [ "para_577" ] }, { "title": "United States—the question here is whether it is within the scope of", "paragraphs": [ "para_579", "para_580" ] }, { "title": "Presidency comes with the power to use the office’s ‘bully pulpit.’”", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "14 It would render the applicable case law incoherent to focus on whether", "paragraphs": [ "para_583", "para_584", "para_585", "para_586", "para_587", "para_588", "para_589", "para_590" ] }, { "title": "18", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Associated Press v. Budowich, No. 25-5109, 2025 WL 1649265, at *12", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "(D.C. Cir. June 6, 2025) (quoting Blassingame v. Trump, 87 F.4th 1, 14-", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "15 (D.C. Cir. 2023)). When the President engages in “public", "paragraphs": [ "para_595", "para_596" ] }, { "title": "The D.C. Circuit has held that “[s]peaking to the press during", "paragraphs": [ "para_598", "para_599", "para_600", "para_601", "para_602" ] }, { "title": "For a defamation claim based on such a remark, “the proper", "paragraphs": [ "para_604" ] }, { "title": "In this case, the district court rejected the notion that the", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "President’s remarks to the press could fall within the scope of his", "paragraphs": [ "para_607", "para_608" ] }, { "title": "But the D.C. Circuit had no problem concluding that the", "paragraphs": [ "para_610", "para_611", "para_612", "para_613", "para_614" ] }, { "title": "15 See also Wilson v. Libby, 535 F.3d 697, 712 (D.C. Cir. 2008) (explaining that", "paragraphs": [ "para_616", "para_617", "para_618", "para_619", "para_620", "para_621" ] }, { "title": "19", "paragraphs": [ "para_623", "para_624", "para_625", "para_626" ] }, { "title": "President Trump explained that he made the remarks giving rise to", "paragraphs": [ "para_628", "para_629" ] }, { "title": "The Fifth Circuit has also decided that a congressman’s", "paragraphs": [ "para_631", "para_632", "para_633", "para_634", "para_635" ] }, { "title": "The Sixth Circuit has decided that legislators’ social media posts", "paragraphs": [ "para_637", "para_638" ] }, { "title": "Defendants’ constituents (i.e., employers) by informing them of", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Defendants’ views.” Does 1-10 v. Haaland, 973 F.3d 591, 594, 602 (6th", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Cir. 2020). And the Third Circuit has held that commissioners of the", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "United States Semiquincentennial Commission acted within the scope", "paragraphs": [ "para_643", "para_644", "para_645" ] }, { "title": "(3d Cir. 2025) (alteration omitted). Other courts have reached similar", "paragraphs": [ "para_647", "para_648", "para_649" ] }, { "title": "20, 2025) (noting that the federal courts “have consistently held that", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "20", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "The Attorney General’s certification “constitute[s] prima facie", "paragraphs": [ "para_653", "para_654", "para_655", "para_656", "para_657", "para_658" ] }, { "title": "It is strange to think that the scope of the office of President of", "paragraphs": [ "para_660", "para_661", "para_662", "para_663", "para_664", "para_665" ] }, { "title": "399 F. Supp. 2d 711, 715 (W.D. Va. 2005) (explaining that a congressman’s", "paragraphs": [ "para_667", "para_668", "para_669", "para_670" ] }, { "title": "Rescue Nat’l v. United States, 975 F. Supp. 92, 108-09 (D. Mass. 1997)", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "(explaining that by making remarks “in response to questions posed by the", "paragraphs": [ "para_673", "para_674", "para_675" ] }, { "title": "17 Cf. Trump, 603 U.S. at 639-40 (“[U]nlike anyone else, the President is a", "paragraphs": [ "para_677", "para_678", "para_679", "para_680", "para_681", "para_682" ] }, { "title": "(2020) (“[T]he Constitution guarantees ‘the entire independence of the", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "21", "paragraphs": [ "para_685", "para_686", "para_687" ] }, { "title": "II", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "As noted above, the panel in this case determined that the", "paragraphs": [ "para_690" ] }, { "title": "Appeals created a “new legal and factual record” that allowed", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Attorney General Garland to submit a new certification decision in", "paragraphs": [ "para_693" ] }, { "title": "148 F.4th at 120. But when it came to the merits, the same panel", "paragraphs": [ "para_695", "para_696" ] }, { "title": "United States was so inconsequential that President Trump should not", "paragraphs": [ "para_698", "para_699", "para_700", "para_701", "para_702", "para_703", "para_704", "para_705", "para_706", "para_707" ] }, { "title": "General Government from any control by the respective States.’ As we have", "paragraphs": [ "para_709", "para_710" ] }, { "title": "Congress.’ It follows that States also lack the power to impede the", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "President’s execution of those laws.”) (citations and alteration omitted)", "paragraphs": [ "para_713", "para_714" ] }, { "title": "22", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "In fact, the prior determination that President Trump waived", "paragraphs": [ "para_717" ] }, { "title": "Trump v. United States provided no meaningful clarification about the", "paragraphs": [ "para_719", "para_720", "para_721", "para_722", "para_723", "para_724", "para_725", "para_726" ] }, { "title": "A", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "There was no waiver of the immunity defense. President", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Trump consistently raised the defense of presidential immunity", "paragraphs": [ "para_730", "para_731", "para_732", "para_733" ] }, { "title": "15, 2020), ECF No. 14-69 (“The alleged defamatory statements are", "paragraphs": [ "para_735", "para_736" ] }, { "title": "19 See Memorandum in Support of Defendant’s Motion for Summary", "paragraphs": [ "para_738" ] }, { "title": "ECF No. 109 (“It is blackletter law that a President is entitled to absolute", "paragraphs": [ "para_740", "para_741", "para_742", "para_743", "para_744", "para_745" ] }, { "title": "23", "paragraphs": [ "para_747" ] }, { "title": "The Supreme Court has explained that to the extent that legislative", "paragraphs": [ "para_749", "para_750" ] }, { "title": "Helstoski, 442 U.S. 477, 491 (1979). The Court emphasized that “[t]he", "paragraphs": [ "para_752", "para_753", "para_754", "para_755", "para_756", "para_757", "para_758", "para_759", "para_760" ] }, { "title": "In this case, however, the Second Circuit held that presidential", "paragraphs": [ "para_762" ] }, { "title": "20 See Reply Memorandum of Law in Further Support of Defendant’s", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Motion for Summary Judgment at 5, Carroll v. Trump, No. 20-CV-7311", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "(S.D.N.Y. Jan. 19, 2023), ECF No. 122 (“[S]hould this Court accept Plaintiff’s", "paragraphs": [ "para_766", "para_767" ] }, { "title": "Carroll, 680 F. Supp. 3d at 504 (“In the alternative, Mr. Trump argues that", "paragraphs": [ "para_769", "para_770", "para_771" ] }, { "title": "21 See Defendant’s Answer to Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint, supra", "paragraphs": [ "para_773", "para_774", "para_775" ] }, { "title": "2024), ECF No. 51.1 (“[T]he doctrine of absolute Presidential immunity bars", "paragraphs": [ "para_777" ] }, { "title": "24", "paragraphs": [ "para_779" ] }, { "title": "President’s initial answer was too general to invoke presidential", "paragraphs": [ "para_781", "para_782" ] }, { "title": "(Carroll 3), 88 F.4th 418, 429-30 (2d Cir. 2023). The panel opinion", "paragraphs": [ "para_784", "para_785", "para_786", "para_787", "para_788", "para_789", "para_790" ] }, { "title": "By making that second point, the panel opinion relied on a", "paragraphs": [ "para_792", "para_793", "para_794", "para_795", "para_796", "para_797", "para_798", "para_799", "para_800", "para_801", "para_802", "para_803" ] }, { "title": "23 Oral Argument Audio Recording at 10:30, Carroll v. Trump, No. 23-1045", "paragraphs": [ "para_805" ] }, { "title": "25", "paragraphs": [ "para_807", "para_808" ] }, { "title": "That exchange during oral argument in no way established an", "paragraphs": [ "para_810", "para_811", "para_812", "para_813", "para_814" ] }, { "title": "The panel in Carroll 3 did not believe that anything said at oral", "paragraphs": [ "para_816", "para_817", "para_818", "para_819", "para_820", "para_821", "para_822" ] }, { "title": "B", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "The most glaring error of the panel opinion, however, was its", "paragraphs": [ "para_825", "para_826", "para_827", "para_828", "para_829" ] }, { "title": "25 See, e.g., Trump, 603 U.S. at 657 (Sotomayor, J., dissenting) (arguing that", "paragraphs": [ "para_831", "para_832" ] }, { "title": "111 Va. L. Rev. 1, 4 (2025) (explaining that “[i]n Trump v. United States, the", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Supreme Court supplied some answers” to “profound questions about the", "paragraphs": [ "para_835" ] }, { "title": "26", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "By “[e]xplaining only that nothing in the Supreme Court’s opinion", "paragraphs": [ "para_838", "para_839", "para_840", "para_841", "para_842" ] }, { "title": "The Supreme Court in Trump v. United States recognized that", "paragraphs": [ "para_844", "para_845", "para_846", "para_847", "para_848", "para_849", "para_850", "para_851" ] }, { "title": "President’s official responsibilities, covering actions so long as they", "paragraphs": [ "para_853", "para_854", "para_855" ] }, { "title": "Decision, 2024 Harv. J.L. & Pub. Pol’y Per Curiam 34, at *1 (2024) (“In Trump", "paragraphs": [ "para_857", "para_858", "para_859" ] }, { "title": "173 U. Pa. L. Rev. Online 33, 33 (2025) (“Trump v. United States is a", "paragraphs": [ "para_861", "para_862", "para_863", "para_864", "para_865", "para_866", "para_867" ] }, { "title": "27", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "And the immunity prevents not only liability for official acts but also", "paragraphs": [ "para_870", "para_871", "para_872", "para_873", "para_874", "para_875", "para_876", "para_877", "para_878", "para_879" ] }, { "title": "The panel in this case decided that when “the D.C. Court of", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Appeals clarified the standard for respondeat superior liability,” the", "paragraphs": [ "para_882", "para_883" ] }, { "title": "It would seem to follow from that premise that when the Supreme", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Court clarified the scope of presidential immunity, the new legal", "paragraphs": [ "para_886", "para_887", "para_888", "para_889", "para_890", "para_891" ] }, { "title": "Trump, 158 F.4th at 466 (concluding that a district court “does not", "paragraphs": [ "para_893", "para_894" ] }, { "title": "26 The panel opinion suggested that the relevant question might be whether", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Trump v. United States represented an intervening change in law on the", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "28", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "The decision in Trump v. United States makes clear that", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "President Trump has a serious claim that the district court conducted", "paragraphs": [ "para_900" ] }, { "title": "Supreme Court explained that “most of a President’s public", "paragraphs": [ "para_902", "para_903", "para_904", "para_905", "para_906", "para_907", "para_908", "para_909", "para_910", "para_911", "para_912", "para_913" ] }, { "title": "(quoting Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464 (1938)). If Trump v. United States", "paragraphs": [ "para_915", "para_916", "para_917" ] }, { "title": "United States did not specifically address the issue of waiver, it did not", "paragraphs": [ "para_919", "para_920", "para_921" ] }, { "title": "States represented a change in controlling law that could support a finding", "paragraphs": [ "para_923" ] }, { "title": "States could support a finding of good cause because it altered the scope of", "paragraphs": [ "para_925", "para_926", "para_927", "para_928", "para_929", "para_930", "para_931" ] }, { "title": "29", "paragraphs": [ "para_933", "para_934", "para_935", "para_936", "para_937", "para_938", "para_939", "para_940" ] }, { "title": "629 (quoting Snyder v. Phelps, 562 U.S. 443, 453 (2011)), and a", "paragraphs": [ "para_942" ] }, { "title": "President’s personal and official affairs,” id. (alteration omitted)", "paragraphs": [ "para_944" ] }, { "title": "Neither the district court nor our court engaged in the", "paragraphs": [ "para_946" ] }, { "title": "Instead, the district court said that a “comment about government", "paragraphs": [ "para_948", "para_949", "para_950", "para_951", "para_952", "para_953", "para_954" ] }, { "title": "Supreme Court, however, has explained that the President is", "paragraphs": [ "para_956", "para_957" ] }, { "title": "Trump, 603 U.S. at 629. His “speaking to and on behalf of the", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "American people certainly can qualify as official even when not", "paragraphs": [ "para_960", "para_961", "para_962" ] }, { "title": "30", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "At a minimum, the President should be able to argue that the", "paragraphs": [ "para_965", "para_966", "para_967", "para_968", "para_969" ] }, { "title": "223, 243 (2d Cir. 2016) (“[T]he intervening authority must have", "paragraphs": [ "para_971", "para_972", "para_973" ] }, { "title": "F.3d 122, 135 (2d Cir. 2014)). The decision in Trump v. United States", "paragraphs": [ "para_975", "para_976", "para_977" ] }, { "title": "Trump, 603 U.S. at 627-29. And it allowed him to argue that he has a", "paragraphs": [ "para_979", "para_980" ] }, { "title": "27 Compare Trump, 603 U.S. at 631 (“If official conduct for which the", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "President is immune may be scrutinized to help secure his conviction, even", "paragraphs": [ "para_983", "para_984", "para_985", "para_986", "para_987", "para_988", "para_989", "para_990" ] }, { "title": "603 U.S. at 656 (Barrett, J., concurring in part) (“[T]he rules of evidence are", "paragraphs": [ "para_992", "para_993" ] }, { "title": "(Sotomayor, J., dissenting) (arguing that the majority’s “draconian", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "31", "paragraphs": [ "para_996", "para_997", "para_998", "para_999" ] }, { "title": "United States. The jury in this case imposed liability for statements", "paragraphs": [ "para_1001", "para_1002" ] }, { "title": "White House.29 The officials and entities involved in distributing the", "paragraphs": [ "para_1004" ] }, { "title": "White House and other comments on matters of public policy—", "paragraphs": [ "para_1006", "para_1007", "para_1008" ] }, { "title": "At the trial, counsel for Carroll emphasized the official", "paragraphs": [ "para_1010", "para_1011", "para_1012", "para_1013", "para_1014", "para_1015", "para_1016", "para_1017", "para_1018", "para_1019", "para_1020", "para_1021", "para_1022", "para_1023", "para_1024" ] }, { "title": "32", "paragraphs": [ "para_1026", "para_1027", "para_1028", "para_1029", "para_1030" ] }, { "title": "These statements indicate that the jury was invited to scrutinize", "paragraphs": [ "para_1032", "para_1033", "para_1034", "para_1035", "para_1036", "para_1037", "para_1038" ] }, { "title": "C", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "The President was denied a fair trial in yet another respect. The", "paragraphs": [ "para_1041", "para_1042", "para_1043", "para_1044" ] }, { "title": "30 Carroll v. Trump, 690 F. Supp. 3d 396, 405 (S.D.N.Y. 2023) (alteration", "paragraphs": [ "para_1046", "para_1047", "para_1048" ] }, { "title": "31 See Carroll v. Trump, 731 F. Supp. 3d 626, 634-35 (S.D.N.Y. 2024)", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "(upholding the award of punitive damages because “there was evidence", "paragraphs": [ "para_1051", "para_1052", "para_1053" ] }, { "title": "Mr. Trump wielded his position as arguably the most powerful and famous", "paragraphs": [ "para_1055" ] }, { "title": "33", "paragraphs": [ "para_1057", "para_1058", "para_1059", "para_1060", "para_1061", "para_1062", "para_1063", "para_1064", "para_1065", "para_1066", "para_1067", "para_1068", "para_1069" ] }, { "title": "That is not how trials are supposed to work. Even putting aside", "paragraphs": [ "para_1071", "para_1072", "para_1073", "para_1074", "para_1075", "para_1076", "para_1077", "para_1078" ] }, { "title": "32 The district court in the first trial unjustifiably excluded evidence of", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "President Trump’s state of mind, allowed the introduction of propensity", "paragraphs": [ "para_1081", "para_1082", "para_1083", "para_1084", "para_1085", "para_1086" ] }, { "title": "34", "paragraphs": [ "para_1088" ] }, { "title": "2019 was the publication of “an excerpt from Ms. Carroll’s then-", "paragraphs": [ "para_1090", "para_1091", "para_1092", "para_1093", "para_1094", "para_1095", "para_1096", "para_1097" ] }, { "title": "Trump sexually abused Carroll only through nonconsensual kissing", "paragraphs": [ "para_1099" ] }, { "title": "But the district court, on its own, determined “that such a", "paragraphs": [ "para_1101", "para_1102", "para_1103", "para_1104" ] }, { "title": "683 F. Supp. 3d 302, 307 (S.D.N.Y. 2023) (emphasis added). In the", "paragraphs": [ "para_1106", "para_1107", "para_1108" ] }, { "title": "Carroll, 151 F.4th at 69 (quoting App’x 1851). No jury ever made that", "paragraphs": [ "para_1110", "para_1111", "para_1112", "para_1113" ] }, { "title": "The panel opinion defended the decision of the district court to", "paragraphs": [ "para_1115", "para_1116", "para_1117" ] }, { "title": "35", "paragraphs": [ "para_1119", "para_1120", "para_1121", "para_1122", "para_1123", "para_1124", "para_1125" ] }, { "title": "It is true that following the first trial the district court needed to", "paragraphs": [ "para_1127", "para_1128", "para_1129", "para_1130", "para_1131", "para_1132", "para_1133", "para_1134" ] }, { "title": "120 (2d Cir. 2004) (“Rule 49 permits the trial court, in some", "paragraphs": [ "para_1136", "para_1137", "para_1138", "para_1139", "para_1140", "para_1141", "para_1142", "para_1143", "para_1144", "para_1145" ] }, { "title": "In this case, the district court did not make its finding to", "paragraphs": [ "para_1147", "para_1148" ] }, { "title": "36", "paragraphs": [ "para_1150", "para_1151", "para_1152", "para_1153" ] }, { "title": "1990)). To determine whether remittitur is appropriate, “a district", "paragraphs": [ "para_1155", "para_1156" ] }, { "title": "York cases in which evidence of similar injuries was presented.”", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Presley v. USPS, 317 F.3d 167, 173 (2d Cir. 2003). That involves a", "paragraphs": [ "para_1159", "para_1160", "para_1161", "para_1162", "para_1163", "para_1164" ] }, { "title": "In this case, no jury ever made a finding about digital", "paragraphs": [ "para_1166", "para_1167", "para_1168", "para_1169", "para_1170", "para_1171", "para_1172", "para_1173" ] }, { "title": "1398 (5th Cir. 1997)). The “inquiry does not focus on what the jury may", "paragraphs": [ "para_1175" ] }, { "title": "33 See, e.g., Nivar v. Sadler, No. 13-CV-7141, 2016 WL 3647957, at *4-6", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "(S.D.N.Y. July 1, 2016); Szabo v. Rodriquez, No. 09-CV-2048, 2012 WL", "paragraphs": [ "para_1178" ] }, { "title": "37", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "United States v. Sarabia, 661 F.3d 225, 232 (5th Cir. 2011)).34 Here, the", "paragraphs": [ "para_1181", "para_1182", "para_1183" ] }, { "title": "And in this case, the failure to follow the law of issue preclusion", "paragraphs": [ "para_1185", "para_1186", "para_1187", "para_1188" ] }, { "title": "Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986). The district court “could not itself", "paragraphs": [ "para_1190", "para_1191", "para_1192", "para_1193", "para_1194", "para_1195" ] }, { "title": "Mut. Life Ins. Co. v. Snyder, 93 U.S. 393, 394-95 (1876). The district court", "paragraphs": [ "para_1197", "para_1198", "para_1199" ] }, { "title": "34 See Postlewaite v. McGraw-Hill, 333 F.3d 42, 48 (2d Cir. 2003) (“[I]n order", "paragraphs": [ "para_1201", "para_1202", "para_1203", "para_1204", "para_1205", "para_1206" ] }, { "title": "35 The panel opinion asserted that the truth or falsity of President Trump’s", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "2019 statements “did not turn on the specific sexual act he committed.”", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Carroll, 151 F.4th at 69 n.15. Carroll accused him of rape. The first jury", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "38", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "D", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "The ambiguous conclusion of the first jury with respect to the", "paragraphs": [ "para_1213", "para_1214" ] }, { "title": "President Trump without a trial. The district court further determined", "paragraphs": [ "para_1216", "para_1217", "para_1218" ] }, { "title": "That makes no sense. Actual malice means that the defendant", "paragraphs": [ "para_1220", "para_1221", "para_1222" ] }, { "title": "Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 280 (1964)). It must be established with “clear", "paragraphs": [ "para_1224", "para_1225", "para_1226", "para_1227", "para_1228", "para_1229", "para_1230", "para_1231", "para_1232", "para_1233", "para_1234", "para_1235", "para_1236", "para_1237", "para_1238", "para_1239", "para_1240" ] }, { "title": "39", "paragraphs": [ "para_1242", "para_1243", "para_1244", "para_1245", "para_1246" ] }, { "title": "The panel opinion did not even attempt to defend the decision", "paragraphs": [ "para_1248", "para_1249", "para_1250", "para_1251", "para_1252", "para_1253", "para_1254", "para_1255" ] }, { "title": "In his deposition testimony, Trump admitted that prior", "paragraphs": [ "para_1257", "para_1258", "para_1259", "para_1260", "para_1261" ] }, { "title": "2019 statements, he had no knowledge of Carroll’s book", "paragraphs": [ "para_1263" ] }, { "title": "Id. at 71-72. None of that established actual malice. “The reckless", "paragraphs": [ "para_1265", "para_1266", "para_1267", "para_1268", "para_1269" ] }, { "title": "(quoting Memorandum of Law in Support of Plaintiff’s Motion for Partial", "paragraphs": [ "para_1271" ] }, { "title": "40", "paragraphs": [ "para_1273", "para_1274", "para_1275", "para_1276" ] }, { "title": "727, 731 (1968)). President Trump was not required to read Carroll’s", "paragraphs": [ "para_1278" ] }, { "title": "Carroll instead was required to identify clear and convincing", "paragraphs": [ "para_1280", "para_1281", "para_1282", "para_1283" ] }, { "title": "In every other defamation case, the actual malice standard", "paragraphs": [ "para_1285" ] }, { "title": "Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc., 472 U.S. 749, 771", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "(1985) (White, J., concurring in the judgment). In the first trial against", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "President Trump, however, “the district court excluded evidence of", "paragraphs": [ "para_1289", "para_1290", "para_1291" ] }, { "title": "In this case, the district court went even further—imposing liability", "paragraphs": [ "para_1293", "para_1294" ] }, { "title": "E", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "On top of the errors already discussed, the panel opinion", "paragraphs": [ "para_1297", "para_1298", "para_1299", "para_1300", "para_1301" ] }, { "title": "41", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "1", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "In New York, a showing of actual malice “is insufficient by", "paragraphs": [ "para_1305", "para_1306", "para_1307" ] }, { "title": "Commc’ns, Inc., 82 N.Y.2d 466, 479 (1993). The “common-law malice”", "paragraphs": [ "para_1309", "para_1310", "para_1311", "para_1312", "para_1313", "para_1314", "para_1315", "para_1316" ] }, { "title": "In this case, “the district court instructed the jury that ‘[a]", "paragraphs": [ "para_1318", "para_1319", "para_1320" ] }, { "title": "(quoting App’x 1857). President Trump requested that the jury be", "paragraphs": [ "para_1322", "para_1323", "para_1324", "para_1325", "para_1326" ] }, { "title": "37 See Carroll, 731 F. Supp. 3d at 631 (“[T]he persuasive evidence is that New", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "York’s highest court would reject defendant’s contention that the Court", "paragraphs": [ "para_1329", "para_1330", "para_1331" ] }, { "title": "42", "paragraphs": [ "para_1333", "para_1334", "para_1335" ] }, { "title": "President Trump’s position has support in the case law,38 and", "paragraphs": [ "para_1337", "para_1338", "para_1339", "para_1340", "para_1341", "para_1342" ] }, { "title": "42 N.Y.2d 272, 282 (1977)). As President Trump explained to the", "paragraphs": [ "para_1344", "para_1345", "para_1346", "para_1347", "para_1348" ] }, { "title": "38 See, e.g., Morsette v. The Final Call, 309 A.D.2d 249, 256 (1st Dep’t 2003)", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "(“[A] triable issue of common-law malice is raised only if a reasonable jury", "paragraphs": [ "para_1351", "para_1352", "para_1353" ] }, { "title": "Verdi v. Dinowitz, 204 A.D.3d 627, 627 (1st Dep’t 2022) (“The pleadings", "paragraphs": [ "para_1355", "para_1356", "para_1357", "para_1358" ] }, { "title": "39 Memorandum of Law in Support of Defendant’s Motion for Summary", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Judgment at 34, Carroll v. Trump, No. 20-CV-7311, 2022 WL 21889346", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "(S.D.N.Y. Dec. 22, 2022), ECF No. 109 (citing Kane v. Orange Cnty. Pubs., 232", "paragraphs": [ "para_1362" ] }, { "title": "43", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "410 F. Supp. 3d 564, 574 (S.D.N.Y. 2019). One of our colleagues has", "paragraphs": [ "para_1365", "para_1366", "para_1367", "para_1368", "para_1369", "para_1370", "para_1371", "para_1372", "para_1373" ] }, { "title": "Restatement of Torts puts it this way:", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "A conditional privilege exists … when the person", "paragraphs": [ "para_1376", "para_1377", "para_1378", "para_1379", "para_1380", "para_1381", "para_1382", "para_1383", "para_1384" ] }, { "title": "Restatement (Second) of Torts § 594 cmt. k (1977). The “general rule”", "paragraphs": [ "para_1386", "para_1387", "para_1388", "para_1389" ] }, { "title": "Dep’t 1912). The privilege of “reply to defamatory attack” is", "paragraphs": [ "para_1391", "para_1392" ] }, { "title": "O’Malley, 2 A.D.2d 567, 574 (1st Dep’t 1956). The privilege means that", "paragraphs": [ "para_1394" ] }, { "title": "44", "paragraphs": [ "para_1396", "para_1397", "para_1398", "para_1399", "para_1400" ] }, { "title": "The qualified privilege of reply is well-established. 41 In this", "paragraphs": [ "para_1402", "para_1403", "para_1404", "para_1405" ] }, { "title": "40 See Shenkman, 2 A.D.2d at 574 (“One who makes a public attack upon", "paragraphs": [ "para_1407", "para_1408", "para_1409", "para_1410", "para_1411", "para_1412", "para_1413", "para_1414" ] }, { "title": "41 See Kane, 232 A.D.2d at 527 (“[S]ince the open letter was the funeral", "paragraphs": [ "para_1416", "para_1417", "para_1418" ] }, { "title": "(1st Dep’t 1918) (explaining that when “he was denounced by the plaintiff", "paragraphs": [ "para_1420", "para_1421", "para_1422", "para_1423" ] }, { "title": "1968) (“After an attack on a defendant by a plaintiff, defendant has a right", "paragraphs": [ "para_1425", "para_1426", "para_1427" ] }, { "title": "45", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Even putting aside presidential immunity,42 that was a qualifiedly", "paragraphs": [ "para_1430" ] }, { "title": "The district court rejected the application of the privilege of", "paragraphs": [ "para_1432", "para_1433", "para_1434" ] }, { "title": "Trump, 680 F. Supp. 3d 491, 516 n.103 (S.D.N.Y. 2023). That was", "paragraphs": [ "para_1436", "para_1437", "para_1438", "para_1439", "para_1440", "para_1441", "para_1442" ] }, { "title": "The panel opinion held that the district court did not need to", "paragraphs": [ "para_1444", "para_1445", "para_1446", "para_1447", "para_1448", "para_1449", "para_1450" ] }, { "title": "44 See also Mencher v. Chesley, 193 Misc. 829, 832 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1948)", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "(“Plaintiff contends … that the defendant in any event went beyond his", "paragraphs": [ "para_1453", "para_1454", "para_1455", "para_1456", "para_1457", "para_1458" ] }, { "title": "46", "paragraphs": [ "para_1460" ] }, { "title": "(quoting Liberman, 80 N.Y.2d at 439). It stands to reason that a speaker", "paragraphs": [ "para_1462", "para_1463" ] }, { "title": "Because the jury was not instructed that it needed to “conclude", "paragraphs": [ "para_1465" ] }, { "title": "80 N.Y.2d at 439 (internal quotation marks omitted), the jury", "paragraphs": [ "para_1467", "para_1468" ] }, { "title": "2", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "In addition to the unauthorized damages, this case involved a", "paragraphs": [ "para_1471", "para_1472", "para_1473", "para_1474", "para_1475", "para_1476", "para_1477", "para_1478", "para_1479", "para_1480", "para_1481" ] }, { "title": "In other words, the jury awarded compensatory damages both", "paragraphs": [ "para_1483", "para_1484", "para_1485" ] }, { "title": "45 Nor was the privilege defeated by a showing of actual malice. See supra", "paragraphs": [ "para_1487" ] }, { "title": "47", "paragraphs": [ "para_1489", "para_1490" ] }, { "title": "No, there is not. These are two ways of measuring the same", "paragraphs": [ "para_1492", "para_1493", "para_1494" ] }, { "title": "239 F. App’x 97, 102 (6th Cir. 2007) (emphasis added).46 It cannot be", "paragraphs": [ "para_1496", "para_1497", "para_1498" ] }, { "title": "The district court believed that the jury awarded “$11 million", "paragraphs": [ "para_1500", "para_1501" ] }, { "title": "46 See, e.g., Scribner v. Summers, 138 F.3d 471, 472 (2d Cir. 1998) (“Under New", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "York law, ‘the proper measure of damages for permanent injury to real", "paragraphs": [ "para_1504", "para_1505" ] }, { "title": "Travel Serv., Inc. v. Hilton Hotels Corp., 896 F.2d 1233, 1242-43 (10th Cir. 1990)", "paragraphs": [ "para_1507", "para_1508", "para_1509" ] }, { "title": "(2d Cir. 1989) (“[T]he plaintiffs cannot recover both benefit-of-the-bargain", "paragraphs": [ "para_1511", "para_1512", "para_1513" ] }, { "title": "O’Brien Bros. v. The Helen B. Moran, 160 F.2d 502, 505 (2d Cir. 1947) (“The", "paragraphs": [ "para_1515", "para_1516", "para_1517", "para_1518", "para_1519", "para_1520" ] }, { "title": "48", "paragraphs": [ "para_1522", "para_1523", "para_1524", "para_1525", "para_1526", "para_1527", "para_1528", "para_1529", "para_1530", "para_1531", "para_1532", "para_1533" ] }, { "title": "Carroll’s attorneys described the program as “a series of public", "paragraphs": [ "para_1535", "para_1536" ] }, { "title": "47 See, e.g., Expert Report of Professor Ashlee Humphreys, PhD, at 4, Carroll", "paragraphs": [ "para_1538", "para_1539", "para_1540", "para_1541", "para_1542" ] }, { "title": "48 See, e.g., id. at 6 (“Her work was featured in numerous major publications", "paragraphs": [ "para_1544" ] }, { "title": "49 See, e.g., id. at 45 (“One in four Elle readers being receptive to [Trump’s]", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Statements is a considerable portion of readers to critically damage", "paragraphs": [ "para_1547", "para_1548", "para_1549" ] }, { "title": "51 Trial Transcript of 1/26/24, at 708:17-19, Carroll v. Trump, No. 20-CV-7311", "paragraphs": [ "para_1551" ] }, { "title": "49", "paragraphs": [ "para_1553", "para_1554" ] }, { "title": "3", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "On top of the duplicative compensatory damages award of", "paragraphs": [ "para_1557", "para_1558", "para_1559", "para_1560" ] }, { "title": "417 (2003), that even the panel opinion acknowledged that it", "paragraphs": [ "para_1562" ] }, { "title": "84. And that is before one recognizes that the compensatory damages", "paragraphs": [ "para_1564", "para_1565", "para_1566", "para_1567" ] }, { "title": "420 (1994). In particular, “[t]he Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Amendment prohibits the imposition of grossly excessive or arbitrary", "paragraphs": [ "para_1570", "para_1571", "para_1572", "para_1573", "para_1574" ] }, { "title": "574 (1996). “To the extent an award is grossly excessive, it furthers no", "paragraphs": [ "para_1576", "para_1577" ] }, { "title": "Apart from that constitutional guarantee, our court purports to", "paragraphs": [ "para_1579", "para_1580", "para_1581" ] }, { "title": "50", "paragraphs": [ "para_1583", "para_1584", "para_1585" ] }, { "title": "2013)). Under that standard, “a degree of excessiveness less extreme", "paragraphs": [ "para_1587", "para_1588", "para_1589", "para_1590", "para_1591", "para_1592" ] }, { "title": "So much for that. The panel opinion in this case abdicated our", "paragraphs": [ "para_1594", "para_1595", "para_1596", "para_1597", "para_1598", "para_1599", "para_1600", "para_1601", "para_1602", "para_1603", "para_1604", "para_1605" ] }, { "title": "We have before us a full trial record and the opinion of an", "paragraphs": [ "para_1607", "para_1608", "para_1609", "para_1610", "para_1611", "para_1612" ] }, { "title": "51", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "President Trump said about Carroll. 52 Even if some leeway to", "paragraphs": [ "para_1615", "para_1616", "para_1617", "para_1618", "para_1619", "para_1620" ] }, { "title": "The Supreme Court has said that “the most important indicium", "paragraphs": [ "para_1622", "para_1623", "para_1624", "para_1625" ] }, { "title": "One is whether “the harm caused was physical as opposed to", "paragraphs": [ "para_1627", "para_1628", "para_1629" ] }, { "title": "52 See Carroll, 151 F.4th at 64 (“Professor Ashley Humphreys, Carroll’s", "paragraphs": [ "para_1631", "para_1632", "para_1633", "para_1634", "para_1635", "para_1636", "para_1637", "para_1638", "para_1639", "para_1640" ] }, { "title": "Report of Professor Ashlee Humphreys, supra note 47, at 45 (“76% of", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Republicans polled either found the allegations of sexual harassment and", "paragraphs": [ "para_1643", "para_1644", "para_1645" ] }, { "title": "52", "paragraphs": [ "para_1647", "para_1648", "para_1649", "para_1650", "para_1651", "para_1652", "para_1653" ] }, { "title": "The district court said that a jury could find that “‘the degree of", "paragraphs": [ "para_1655", "para_1656", "para_1657", "para_1658" ] }, { "title": "The panel opinion decided that the punitive damages award in", "paragraphs": [ "para_1660", "para_1661", "para_1662" ] }, { "title": "691 F. Supp. 3d 32, 71 (D.D.C. 2023), which resulted in punitive", "paragraphs": [ "para_1664" ] }, { "title": "(D.D.C. 2024). It identified a state-court “award of $321,650,000 in", "paragraphs": [ "para_1666", "para_1667", "para_1668", "para_1669", "para_1670", "para_1671", "para_1672" ] }, { "title": "421, 466 (2019). And the panel opinion explained that “a New York", "paragraphs": [ "para_1674", "para_1675", "para_1676" ] }, { "title": "53", "paragraphs": [ "para_1678" ] }, { "title": "A.D.3d 407, 407-08 (1st Dep’t 2024)). In fact, the appellate court", "paragraphs": [ "para_1680", "para_1681", "para_1682" ] }, { "title": "A.D.3d at 407.53", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "The point of “[c]omparing the punitive damages award and the", "paragraphs": [ "para_1685", "para_1686", "para_1687", "para_1688", "para_1689", "para_1690" ] }, { "title": "That is an indictment of rather than a justification for the panel’s", "paragraphs": [ "para_1692" ] }, { "title": "At a minimum, our court should eliminate the double recovery", "paragraphs": [ "para_1694", "para_1695", "para_1696", "para_1697" ] }, { "title": "53 The unopposed judgment resulted in “the highest defamation judgment", "paragraphs": [ "para_1699", "para_1700", "para_1701" ] }, { "title": "Godfrey, Press Release, Susman Godfrey Secures $203 Million Win for", "paragraphs": [ "para_1703", "para_1704" ] }, { "title": "54", "paragraphs": [ "para_1706" ] }, { "title": "In this case, (1) the United States should have been substituted", "paragraphs": [ "para_1708", "para_1709", "para_1710", "para_1711", "para_1712", "para_1713", "para_1714", "para_1715", "para_1716" ] }, { "title": "24-644", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Carroll v. Trump", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "CHIN, Senior Circuit Judge, in support of the denial of rehearing en banc:", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "As a member of the three-judge panel that decided this case, I write to", "paragraphs": [ "para_1721", "para_1722" ] }, { "title": "These are the third and fourth times our Court has voted to deny en banc", "paragraphs": [ "para_1724", "para_1725", "para_1726", "para_1727", "para_1728" ] }, { "title": "(\"Carroll II\") asserted a sexual assault claim as well as defamation claims based on", "paragraphs": [ "para_1730", "para_1731", "para_1732", "para_1733", "para_1734", "para_1735", "para_1736", "para_1737", "para_1738" ] }, { "title": "2", "paragraphs": [ "para_1740", "para_1741", "para_1742" ] }, { "title": "Carroll I was tried in January 2024. The jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million", "paragraphs": [ "para_1744", "para_1745", "para_1746", "para_1747" ] }, { "title": "June, and issued an opinion explaining our reasoning in August. Carroll v. Trump, 148", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "F.4th 110 (2d Cir. 2025) (per curiam) (\"Carroll 5\"). Second, in September, the panel", "paragraphs": [ "para_1750", "para_1751", "para_1752", "para_1753" ] }, { "title": "Trump and the United States have petitioned for rehearing of Carroll 5,3", "paragraphs": [ "para_1755", "para_1756", "para_1757", "para_1758", "para_1759" ] }, { "title": "3 Petition for Panel Rehearing and En Banc Determination of the United States and", "paragraphs": [ "para_1761", "para_1762" ] }, { "title": "3", "paragraphs": [ "para_1764", "para_1765", "para_1766" ] }, { "title": "The dissent goes further than either of the filed petitions, challenging", "paragraphs": [ "para_1768", "para_1769", "para_1770", "para_1771", "para_1772", "para_1773", "para_1774", "para_1775", "para_1776", "para_1777" ] }, { "title": "A familiar principle cautions that rehearing en banc is \"not favored,\" and is", "paragraphs": [ "para_1779", "para_1780" ] }, { "title": "365 (1984). I write to respond in greater detail to some of Trump's and the dissent's", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "24-644 (2d Cir. Sep. 23, 2025), Dkt. No. 138. The Government filed an amicus brief on the", "paragraphs": [ "para_1783", "para_1784" ] }, { "title": "4", "paragraphs": [ "para_1786", "para_1787" ] }, { "title": "BACKGROUND", "paragraphs": [ "para_1789", "para_1790" ] }, { "title": "On June 21, 2019, New York magazine published an excerpt from Carroll's", "paragraphs": [ "para_1792" ] }, { "title": "1996. Trump -- who was serving his first term as President at the time -- responded", "paragraphs": [ "para_1794", "para_1795", "para_1796", "para_1797", "para_1798", "para_1799", "para_1800" ] }, { "title": "In November 2019, Carroll filed Carroll I in state court alleging defamation", "paragraphs": [ "para_1802", "para_1803", "para_1804" ] }, { "title": "Trump made the allegedly defamatory statements while acting \"within the scope of his", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "5", "paragraphs": [ "para_1807", "para_1808", "para_1809", "para_1810", "para_1811" ] }, { "title": "D.C. scope of employment law); Trump v. Carroll, 292 A.3d 220 (D.C. 2023) (answering", "paragraphs": [ "para_1813", "para_1814" ] }, { "title": "When the case was remanded to the district court in 2023, the district", "paragraphs": [ "para_1816" ] }, { "title": "Westfall certification and substitution within a thirty-day window. Carroll 5, 148 F.4th", "paragraphs": [ "para_1818", "para_1819", "para_1820", "para_1821", "para_1822", "para_1823" ] }, { "title": "No further action was taken on the Westfall issue until April 2025, when", "paragraphs": [ "para_1825", "para_1826" ] }, { "title": "6", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "While the Westfall Act appeals were pending, litigation on the merits", "paragraphs": [ "para_1829", "para_1830", "para_1831" ] }, { "title": "December 2022. Carroll 6, 151 F.4th at 62. The district court denied Trump's attempt to", "paragraphs": [ "para_1833", "para_1834", "para_1835" ] }, { "title": "(\"Carroll 3\"), and the majority of active judges voted to deny rehearing en banc, No. 23-", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "1045, 2024 WL 96249 (2d Cir. Jan. 8, 2024). Carroll 3 held that presidential immunity is", "paragraphs": [ "para_1838", "para_1839", "para_1840" ] }, { "title": "While the appeals of Carroll I were proceeding, Carroll filed Carroll II", "paragraphs": [ "para_1842", "para_1843", "para_1844", "para_1845", "para_1846" ] }, { "title": "63. As noted above, the Carroll II jury found that Trump sexually abused Carroll in 1996", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "7", "paragraphs": [ "para_1849", "para_1850" ] }, { "title": "Proceedings then restarted in Carroll I. In light of the jury verdict in", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Carroll II, the district court granted summary judgment for Carroll on her defamation", "paragraphs": [ "para_1853", "para_1854", "para_1855" ] }, { "title": "The district court concluded in the alternative that even if Trump was not collaterally", "paragraphs": [ "para_1857", "para_1858" ] }, { "title": "71. Trump did not challenge the district court's alternative holding on appeal. Id. The", "paragraphs": [ "para_1860", "para_1861", "para_1862", "para_1863" ] }, { "title": "In addition, Carroll's expert testified that running a successful campaign to repair her", "paragraphs": [ "para_1865" ] }, { "title": "The jury also heard evidence that Trump had continued to make", "paragraphs": [ "para_1867" ] }, { "title": "These included comments made by Trump leading up to the Carroll II trial (repeating", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "8", "paragraphs": [ "para_1870", "para_1871", "para_1872" ] }, { "title": "Biden encouraged Witch Hunt in Lower Manhattan to fight against a FAKE Case from a", "paragraphs": [ "para_1874" ] }, { "title": "After testifying in Carroll I, Trump was warned on multiple occasions by the district", "paragraphs": [ "para_1876", "para_1877" ] }, { "title": "The jury awarded Carroll $11 million for the \"reputation repair program,\"", "paragraphs": [ "para_1879", "para_1880" ] }, { "title": "DISCUSSION", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "I begin with a discussion of Carroll 5, the panel's decision concerning", "paragraphs": [ "para_1883", "para_1884" ] }, { "title": "I. The Westfall Act Decision (Carroll 5)", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "The Westfall Act permits the United States to be substituted as the", "paragraphs": [ "para_1887", "para_1888" ] }, { "title": "9", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "United States were to be substituted as the defendant in this case, Carroll's defamation", "paragraphs": [ "para_1891", "para_1892", "para_1893" ] }, { "title": "The Westfall Act lays out a process for obtaining substitution in three", "paragraphs": [ "para_1895", "para_1896", "para_1897", "para_1898", "para_1899" ] }, { "title": "Carroll I was filed in state court, a situation covered by § 2679(d)(2). That", "paragraphs": [ "para_1901" ] }, { "title": "Upon certification by the Attorney General that the defendant employee", "paragraphs": [ "para_1903", "para_1904", "para_1905", "para_1906", "para_1907", "para_1908", "para_1909" ] }, { "title": "States under the provisions of this title and all references thereto, and the", "paragraphs": [ "para_1911", "para_1912" ] }, { "title": "Sub-section (d)(2) contemplates a three-step process: the Attorney General", "paragraphs": [ "para_1914" ] }, { "title": "10", "paragraphs": [ "para_1916", "para_1917", "para_1918", "para_1919" ] }, { "title": "Initially, Carroll I followed the three-step process outlined above: Carroll", "paragraphs": [ "para_1921", "para_1922", "para_1923", "para_1924", "para_1925", "para_1926" ] }, { "title": "The typicality ended there, as the Westfall issues were then litigated in", "paragraphs": [ "para_1928", "para_1929", "para_1930", "para_1931", "para_1932" ] }, { "title": "U.S.C. § 2679(d)(3) (allowing the employee to petition for certification where the", "paragraphs": [ "para_1934", "para_1935" ] }, { "title": "11", "paragraphs": [ "para_1937", "para_1938" ] }, { "title": "The Carroll 5 panel denied the Government's post-trial motion to", "paragraphs": [ "para_1940", "para_1941", "para_1942", "para_1943", "para_1944", "para_1945" ] }, { "title": "I begin, as does the dissent, with waiver.5 Both the Government and", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Trump waived their right to seek substitution. Although the district court gave them an", "paragraphs": [ "para_1948", "para_1949", "para_1950" ] }, { "title": "114. They did not raise the issue again until after the case had been tried, judgment had", "paragraphs": [ "para_1952", "para_1953" ] }, { "title": "5 I note, however, that rehearing en banc on the basis of waiver was not warranted in any", "paragraphs": [ "para_1955", "para_1956" ] }, { "title": "12", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "The dissent suggests that the panel decision treats the Attorneys General", "paragraphs": [ "para_1959" ] }, { "title": "Garland's \"withdrawal\" of certification in 2023, but denied Attorney General Bondi's", "paragraphs": [ "para_1961", "para_1962", "para_1963", "para_1964", "para_1965", "para_1966", "para_1967", "para_1968" ] }, { "title": "That is the dispositive reason why the Bondi certification, which occurred fifteen", "paragraphs": [ "para_1970" ] }, { "title": "Contrary to the dissent's contention, the Government does not escape the", "paragraphs": [ "para_1972", "para_1973", "para_1974", "para_1975" ] }, { "title": "The fact that Congress authorized the Attorney General to issue certifications does not", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "13", "paragraphs": [ "para_1978", "para_1979", "para_1980", "para_1981" ] }, { "title": "As noted in Carroll 5, Trump also had the option to petition the district", "paragraphs": [ "para_1983" ] }, { "title": "2023. 148 F.4th at 119. If the Attorney General refuses to certify, sub-section (d)(3)", "paragraphs": [ "para_1985", "para_1986", "para_1987" ] }, { "title": "Trump took no action. Carroll 5, 148 F.4th at 114 (citation modified). On this point, even", "paragraphs": [ "para_1989", "para_1990", "para_1991", "para_1992", "para_1993", "para_1994", "para_1995", "para_1996", "para_1997", "para_1998", "para_1999", "para_2000" ] }, { "title": "14", "paragraphs": [ "para_2002" ] }, { "title": "Carroll 5's primary holding is that the text of the Westfall Act does not", "paragraphs": [ "para_2004", "para_2005", "para_2006", "para_2007", "para_2008" ] }, { "title": "The dissent acknowledges -- as it must -- that removal must occur before", "paragraphs": [ "para_2010", "para_2011", "para_2012", "para_2013" ] }, { "title": "1994) (citation modified) (noting that (d)(2) \"permits removal, and therefore", "paragraphs": [ "para_2015", "para_2016", "para_2017", "para_2018", "para_2019", "para_2020", "para_2021" ] }, { "title": "15", "paragraphs": [ "para_2023", "para_2024" ] }, { "title": "The dissent next argues that our holding creates a circuit split, pointing to", "paragraphs": [ "para_2026" ] }, { "title": "See Dissent at 15. The dissent contends that, under Wasserman, Carroll's case is actually", "paragraphs": [ "para_2028", "para_2029", "para_2030", "para_2031", "para_2032" ] }, { "title": "In Wasserman, a pro se plaintiff who was arrested by a U.S. Park Police", "paragraphs": [ "para_2034" ] }, { "title": "9 The dissent cites to three cases analyzing the timing of certification and substitution", "paragraphs": [ "para_2036", "para_2037", "para_2038", "para_2039", "para_2040", "para_2041", "para_2042", "para_2043", "para_2044", "para_2045", "para_2046", "para_2047", "para_2048", "para_2049" ] }, { "title": "16", "paragraphs": [ "para_2051" ] }, { "title": "The officer removed the case to the D.C. District Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441 and", "paragraphs": [ "para_2053" ] }, { "title": "The D.C. Circuit held that certification and substitution was proper on \"two grounds\" --", "paragraphs": [ "para_2055" ] }, { "title": "United States district court\" for purposes of (d)(1), or because the D.C. Superior Court", "paragraphs": [ "para_2057" ] }, { "title": "To force a circuit split, the dissent would have us adopt an implausibly", "paragraphs": [ "para_2059" ] }, { "title": "Wasserman indeed states that when the officer's case was removed, the action was", "paragraphs": [ "para_2061", "para_2062", "para_2063", "para_2064", "para_2065" ] }, { "title": "Instead, Wasserman resolved the narrow question of whether federal employees who are", "paragraphs": [ "para_2067", "para_2068", "para_2069", "para_2070", "para_2071" ] }, { "title": "17", "paragraphs": [ "para_2073", "para_2074", "para_2075", "para_2076", "para_2077" ] }, { "title": "In any event, there is no question that Carroll initiated her action here in", "paragraphs": [ "para_2079" ] }, { "title": "5 thus accords with Wasserman in reasoning that removals of actions filed in state court", "paragraphs": [ "para_2081", "para_2082", "para_2083", "para_2084" ] }, { "title": "Nor does our holding misconstrue or undermine the Westfall Act's", "paragraphs": [ "para_2086", "para_2087", "para_2088" ] }, { "title": "Dissent at 14, requiring certification and substitution before trial does not undercut the", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Westfall Act's purpose of immunizing employees in covered suits. That the Westfall Act", "paragraphs": [ "para_2091" ] }, { "title": "Supreme Court's repeated instruction that \"[i]mmunity-related issues\" under the Act", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "18", "paragraphs": [ "para_2094", "para_2095" ] }, { "title": "C. Carroll 5 contained no substantive scope-of-employment or substitution", "paragraphs": [ "para_2097" ] }, { "title": "The final \"error\" alleged by the dissent is not actually about this decision", "paragraphs": [ "para_2099", "para_2100", "para_2101", "para_2102", "para_2103", "para_2104" ] }, { "title": "2022 decision certifying the scope-of-employment question); Trump v. Carroll, 292 A.3d", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "220 (D.C. 2023) (the D.C. Court of Appeals' decision clarifying its respondeat superior", "paragraphs": [ "para_2107" ] }, { "title": "The dissent asserts that these three courts all erred by looking to state law", "paragraphs": [ "para_2109" ] }, { "title": "See Dissent at 20. But to be clear, the panel's decision in Carroll 5 did not address this", "paragraphs": [ "para_2111", "para_2112", "para_2113", "para_2114" ] }, { "title": "19", "paragraphs": [ "para_2116", "para_2117", "para_2118", "para_2119", "para_2120", "para_2121" ] }, { "title": "The dissent instead urges us to adopt a new scope-of-employment test", "paragraphs": [ "para_2123", "para_2124", "para_2125", "para_2126", "para_2127", "para_2128" ] }, { "title": "Government while acting within the scope of his office or employment, under circumstances", "paragraphs": [ "para_2130", "para_2131", "para_2132", "para_2133", "para_2134", "para_2135", "para_2136", "para_2137", "para_2138", "para_2139", "para_2140", "para_2141", "para_2142", "para_2143", "para_2144" ] }, { "title": "20", "paragraphs": [ "para_2146", "para_2147", "para_2148", "para_2149", "para_2150" ] }, { "title": "At bottom, I agree with the dissent that \"the same rules should apply", "paragraphs": [ "para_2152", "para_2153", "para_2154", "para_2155", "para_2156" ] }, { "title": "II. The Merits Decision (Carroll 6)", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "A month after the panel issued Carroll 5, we decided the merits of the", "paragraphs": [ "para_2159", "para_2160", "para_2161", "para_2162", "para_2163", "para_2164" ] }, { "title": "21", "paragraphs": [ "para_2166" ] }, { "title": "Trump petitioned for en banc review of our rulings on presidential", "paragraphs": [ "para_2168", "para_2169", "para_2170", "para_2171", "para_2172", "para_2173", "para_2174" ] }, { "title": "I begin by discussing immunity and punitive damages, the two rulings", "paragraphs": [ "para_2176", "para_2177", "para_2178" ] }, { "title": "In 2023, a previous panel of our Court confronted as a matter of first", "paragraphs": [ "para_2180" ] }, { "title": "88 F.4th at 425. At that time, Trump had asserted that presidential immunity was", "paragraphs": [ "para_2182", "para_2183", "para_2184", "para_2185" ] }, { "title": "22", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "The Carroll 3 panel explained in an extensive opinion that, contrary to", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Trump's argument, presidential immunity is \"not jurisdictional\" and is instead \"treated", "paragraphs": [ "para_2189", "para_2190", "para_2191", "para_2192", "para_2193" ] }, { "title": "Two years later in Carroll 6, we adhered to these rulings when Trump", "paragraphs": [ "para_2195", "para_2196", "para_2197" ] }, { "title": "The panel rejected this renewed argument because Carroll 3 was law of the case, and", "paragraphs": [ "para_2199" ] }, { "title": "(\"Trump\"), did not alter the prevailing law on whether and how presidential immunity", "paragraphs": [ "para_2201" ] }, { "title": "Although the dissent critiques our Court's decision in Carroll 3, the panel", "paragraphs": [ "para_2203", "para_2204", "para_2205", "para_2206" ] }, { "title": "23", "paragraphs": [ "para_2208" ] }, { "title": "States v. Aquart, 92 F.4th 77, 87, 93 (2d Cir. 2024) (citation modified). None of those", "paragraphs": [ "para_2210" ] }, { "title": "Carroll 3 pertained to waiver. Accordingly, the question is whether Trump", "paragraphs": [ "para_2212", "para_2213", "para_2214", "para_2215", "para_2216", "para_2217", "para_2218", "para_2219", "para_2220" ] }, { "title": "16 The dissent points to another decision of this Court in which our colleagues remanded a", "paragraphs": [ "para_2222", "para_2223", "para_2224" ] }, { "title": "New York v. Trump, which explains that Trump may have changed \"controlling law that could", "paragraphs": [ "para_2226", "para_2227", "para_2228", "para_2229", "para_2230", "para_2231", "para_2232", "para_2233", "para_2234" ] }, { "title": "24", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "In arguing that both Carroll 3 and Carroll 6 were incorrect, the dissent", "paragraphs": [ "para_2237", "para_2238", "para_2239", "para_2240", "para_2241", "para_2242" ] }, { "title": "Carroll 3 remains law of the case. But even if it did not, we appropriately", "paragraphs": [ "para_2244", "para_2245", "para_2246", "para_2247", "para_2248" ] }, { "title": "Clause could only be waived in this manner. Id. at 490-91. Trump (and the dissent)", "paragraphs": [ "para_2250", "para_2251", "para_2252", "para_2253", "para_2254" ] }, { "title": "As Carroll 6 explained and as Trump itself reasoned, the notion that", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "25", "paragraphs": [ "para_2257", "para_2258", "para_2259" ] }, { "title": "683 (1974); Nixon v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 731 (1982)). To the extent Trump reaffirmed that", "paragraphs": [ "para_2261", "para_2262", "para_2263", "para_2264", "para_2265", "para_2266" ] }, { "title": "The dissent contends that Trump did not waive immunity here. But that", "paragraphs": [ "para_2268", "para_2269", "para_2270", "para_2271", "para_2272", "para_2273", "para_2274", "para_2275", "para_2276", "para_2277", "para_2278", "para_2279", "para_2280" ] }, { "title": "26", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Carroll 6, 151 F.4th at 62. Instead, Trump argued that presidential immunity barred", "paragraphs": [ "para_2283" ] }, { "title": "January 2023. Id. In Carroll 3, this Court affirmed the district court's ruling that Trump", "paragraphs": [ "para_2285", "para_2286", "para_2287", "para_2288", "para_2289", "para_2290" ] }, { "title": "In sum, Carroll 3 correctly held that presidential immunity is waivable and", "paragraphs": [ "para_2292", "para_2293", "para_2294" ] }, { "title": "The only other argument Trump raises in his petition is that the $65", "paragraphs": [ "para_2296", "para_2297" ] }, { "title": "16. Trump and the dissent argue that the award violates due process under our", "paragraphs": [ "para_2299", "para_2300" ] }, { "title": "Nowhere in Turley did we pronounce a \"rule\" that \"no more than an", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "27", "paragraphs": [ "para_2303", "para_2304", "para_2305", "para_2306" ] }, { "title": "165-66; see also State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Campbell, 538 U.S. 408, 425 (2003). We", "paragraphs": [ "para_2308", "para_2309", "para_2310", "para_2311" ] }, { "title": "This is not a hostile work environment case, but instead one for", "paragraphs": [ "para_2313", "para_2314", "para_2315", "para_2316" ] }, { "title": "151 F.4th at 64. Beyond labeling the comparator cases to which our decision cites as", "paragraphs": [ "para_2318", "para_2319", "para_2320", "para_2321" ] }, { "title": "28", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Critically, \"the most important indicium\" of a punitive damages award's", "paragraphs": [ "para_2324" ] }, { "title": "N. Am., Inc. v. Gore, 517 U.S. 559, 575 (1996); accord Dissent at 51. The dissent", "paragraphs": [ "para_2326" ] }, { "title": "Carroll published,\" to which \"no reasonable person could have expected anything other", "paragraphs": [ "para_2328" ] }, { "title": "6, the record showed that Trump made multiple statements over many years accusing", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Carroll of lying for political and financial gain, and suggesting that Carroll was too", "paragraphs": [ "para_2331", "para_2332", "para_2333", "para_2334", "para_2335", "para_2336", "para_2337" ] }, { "title": "Trump's petition for rehearing ended there, but the dissent further", "paragraphs": [ "para_2339", "para_2340" ] }, { "title": "After the jury in Carroll II found that Trump had sexually abused Carroll", "paragraphs": [ "para_2342" ] }, { "title": "29", "paragraphs": [ "para_2344", "para_2345", "para_2346" ] }, { "title": "On falsity, the district court held that Trump was collaterally estopped", "paragraphs": [ "para_2348" ] }, { "title": "The jury in Carroll II was given a special verdict form and asked to decide among three", "paragraphs": [ "para_2350", "para_2351", "para_2352", "para_2353" ] }, { "title": "49(a)(3). Id. Accordingly, when Trump moved for remittitur, the district court held that", "paragraphs": [ "para_2355", "para_2356", "para_2357", "para_2358", "para_2359" ] }, { "title": "(2d Cir. 2001). There was therefore nothing improper about according this finding", "paragraphs": [ "para_2361" ] }, { "title": "Moreover, the dissent does not actually dispute the reasoning behind our", "paragraphs": [ "para_2363" ] }, { "title": "30", "paragraphs": [ "para_2365" ] }, { "title": "As Carroll 6 explains, the truth or falsity of both the 2019 and 2022 statements depended", "paragraphs": [ "para_2367", "para_2368", "para_2369" ] }, { "title": "Accordingly, the 2019 statements -- including that he \"never met [Carroll] in [his] life\"", "paragraphs": [ "para_2371" ] }, { "title": "On actual malice, the district court held that even if Trump were not", "paragraphs": [ "para_2373", "para_2374", "para_2375", "para_2376", "para_2377", "para_2378", "para_2379" ] }, { "title": "18 In the 2019 statements, Trump said: \"I've never met [Carroll] in my life,\" \"[s]hame on", "paragraphs": [ "para_2381", "para_2382", "para_2383", "para_2384", "para_2385", "para_2386", "para_2387", "para_2388" ] }, { "title": "31", "paragraphs": [ "para_2390", "para_2391", "para_2392" ] }, { "title": "On this record, a reasonable juror could only conclude that Trump made", "paragraphs": [ "para_2394", "para_2395", "para_2396" ] }, { "title": "The dissent further challenges two additional elements of the jury's", "paragraphs": [ "para_2398" ] }, { "title": "First, the panel opinion explains why punitive damages awarded here", "paragraphs": [ "para_2400", "para_2401", "para_2402" ] }, { "title": "Dissent at 41-45. There are two distinct concepts at play. New York law recognizes", "paragraphs": [ "para_2404" ] }, { "title": "19 Over the course of six years, Trump called Carroll's allegations \"a Hoax and a lie\" and", "paragraphs": [ "para_2406", "para_2407", "para_2408", "para_2409", "para_2410", "para_2411", "para_2412" ] }, { "title": "32", "paragraphs": [ "para_2414", "para_2415", "para_2416", "para_2417", "para_2418", "para_2419", "para_2420" ] }, { "title": "(citation modified); Prozeralik, 626 N.E.2d at 42 (explaining that punitive damages are", "paragraphs": [ "para_2422", "para_2423", "para_2424", "para_2425", "para_2426", "para_2427", "para_2428", "para_2429", "para_2430", "para_2431", "para_2432", "para_2433", "para_2434", "para_2435", "para_2436" ] }, { "title": "33", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "Second, the compensatory damages awarded in this case were not", "paragraphs": [ "para_2439" ] }, { "title": "The first category was damages that Carroll suffered because of the defamatory", "paragraphs": [ "para_2441", "para_2442", "para_2443", "para_2444", "para_2445", "para_2446", "para_2447", "para_2448", "para_2449", "para_2450" ] }, { "title": "CONCLUSION", "paragraphs": [] }, { "title": "These two per curiam decisions mark the due conclusion of two related", "paragraphs": [ "para_2453" ] }, { "title": "Government identified any rulings by the panel that, upon review, conflict with", "paragraphs": [ "para_2455", "para_2456" ] }, { "title": "34", "paragraphs": [ "para_2458", "para_2459", "para_2460", "para_2461", "para_2462" ] } ], "paragraphs": [ { "text": "1", "paragraph_id": "para_1" }, { "text": "24-644", "paragraph_id": "para_2" }, { "text": "Carroll v. Trump", "paragraph_id": "para_3" }, { "text": "UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS", "paragraph_id": "para_4" }, { "text": "FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT", "paragraph_id": "para_5" }, { "text": "At a stated term of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit,", "paragraph_id": "para_6" }, { "text": "held at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, in the", "paragraph_id": "para_7" }, { "text": "City of New York, on the 29th day of April, two thousand twenty-six.", "paragraph_id": "para_8" }, { "text": "Present:", "paragraph_id": "para_9" }, { "text": "DEBRA ANN LIVINGSTON,", "paragraph_id": "para_10" }, { "text": "Chief Judge,", "paragraph_id": "para_11" }, { "text": "RAYMOND J. LOHIER, JR.,", "paragraph_id": "para_12" }, { "text": "RICHARD J. SULLIVAN,", "paragraph_id": "para_13" }, { "text": "JOSEPH F. BIANCO,", "paragraph_id": "para_14" }, { "text": "MICHAEL H. PARK,", "paragraph_id": "para_15" }, { "text": "WILLIAM J. NARDINI,", "paragraph_id": "para_16" }, { "text": "STEVEN J. MENASHI,", "paragraph_id": "para_17" }, { "text": "EUNICE C. LEE,", "paragraph_id": "para_18" }, { "text": "BETH ROBINSON,", "paragraph_id": "para_19" }, { "text": "MYRNA PÉREZ,", "paragraph_id": "para_20" }, { "text": "SARAH A. L. MERRIAM,", "paragraph_id": "para_21" }, { "text": "MARIA ARAÚJO KAHN,", "paragraph_id": "para_22" }, { "text": "Circuit Judges.", "paragraph_id": "para_23" }, { "text": "_____________________________________", "paragraph_id": "para_24" }, { "text": "E. JEAN CARROLL,", "paragraph_id": "para_25" }, { "text": "Plaintiff-Counter-Defendant-Appellee,", "paragraph_id": "para_26" }, { "text": "v. 24-644", "paragraph_id": "para_27" }, { "text": "DONALD TRUMP, IN HIS PERSONAL", "paragraph_id": "para_28" }, { "text": "CAPACITY,", "paragraph_id": "para_29" }, { "text": "2", "paragraph_id": "para_30" }, { "text": "Defendant-Counter-Claimant-Appellant.", "paragraph_id": "para_31" }, { "text": "_____________________________________", "paragraph_id": "para_32" }, { "text": "For Plaintiff-Counter-Defendant-Appellee: Roberta A. Kaplan (D. Brandon", "paragraph_id": "para_33" }, { "text": "Trice, Maximilian T. Crema, and", "paragraph_id": "para_34" }, { "text": "Avita Anand, on the brief),", "paragraph_id": "para_35" }, { "text": "Kaplan Martin, LLP, New York,", "paragraph_id": "para_36" }, { "text": "NY.", "paragraph_id": "para_37" }, { "text": "For Defendant-Counter-Claimant-Appellant: Justin D. Smith, James Otis Law", "paragraph_id": "para_38" }, { "text": "Group, LLC, St. Louis, MO.", "paragraph_id": "para_39" }, { "text": "Following disposition of this appeal on September 8, 2025, an active judge", "paragraph_id": "para_40" }, { "text": "of the Court requested a poll on whether to rehear the case en banc. A poll having", "paragraph_id": "para_41" }, { "text": "been conducted and there being no majority favoring en banc review, the petitions", "paragraph_id": "para_42" }, { "text": "for rehearing en banc are hereby DENIED.", "paragraph_id": "para_43" }, { "text": "Sarah A. L. Merriam and Maria Araújo Kahn, Circuit Judges, joined by Beth", "paragraph_id": "para_44" }, { "text": "Robinson and Myrna Pérez, Circuit Judges, concur by opinion in the denial of", "paragraph_id": "para_45" }, { "text": "rehearing en banc.", "paragraph_id": "para_46" }, { "text": "Steven J. Menashi, Circuit Judge, joined by Michael H. Park, Circuit Judge,", "paragraph_id": "para_47" }, { "text": "and joined by Debra Ann Livingston, Chief Judge, except as to Part II.E.1, dissents", "paragraph_id": "para_48" }, { "text": "by opinion from the denial of rehearing en banc.", "paragraph_id": "para_49" }, { "text": "Denny Chin, Circuit Judge, filed a statement with respect to the denial of", "paragraph_id": "para_50" }, { "text": "rehearing en banc.", "paragraph_id": "para_51" }, { "text": "Alison J. Nathan, Circuit Judge, took no part in the consideration or decision", "paragraph_id": "para_52" }, { "text": "of the petitions.", "paragraph_id": "para_53" }, { "text": "FOR THE COURT:", "paragraph_id": "para_54" }, { "text": "Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk", "paragraph_id": "para_55" }, { "text": "24-644", "paragraph_id": "para_56" }, { "text": "Carroll v. Trump", "paragraph_id": "para_57" }, { "text": "MERRIAM and KAHN, Circuit Judges, writing jointly, joined by ROBINSON and PÉREZ, Circuit", "paragraph_id": "para_58" }, { "text": "Judges, concurring in the denial of rehearing en banc:", "paragraph_id": "para_59" }, { "text": "We concur in the decision of the majority of the active members of the Court", "paragraph_id": "para_60" }, { "text": "declining to rehear these matters en banc. As our colleague Judge Chin has so clearly", "paragraph_id": "para_61" }, { "text": "explained in his statement, the petitions for rehearing do not point to any conflict", "paragraph_id": "para_62" }, { "text": "created by the panel’s opinions with binding precedent of this Circuit, another Circuit,", "paragraph_id": "para_63" }, { "text": "or the Supreme Court, nor do they persuasively argue that the decisions embodied in", "paragraph_id": "para_64" }, { "text": "our opinions pose a question of exceptional importance sufficient to support en banc", "paragraph_id": "para_65" }, { "text": "review. Likewise, the arguments raised in the opinion dissenting from the denial of en", "paragraph_id": "para_66" }, { "text": "banc review do not support rehearing.", "paragraph_id": "para_67" }, { "text": "We fully adopt the statement of Judge Chin as our concurrence in this matter.", "paragraph_id": "para_68" }, { "text": "24-644", "paragraph_id": "para_69" }, { "text": "Carroll v. Trump", "paragraph_id": "para_70" }, { "text": "MENASHI, Circuit Judge, joined by PARK, Circuit Judge, and joined", "paragraph_id": "para_71" }, { "text": "by LIVINGSTON, Chief Judge, except as to Part II.E.1, dissenting from", "paragraph_id": "para_72" }, { "text": "the denial of rehearing en banc:", "paragraph_id": "para_73" }, { "text": "In this case, the panel issued two separate decisions that are", "paragraph_id": "para_74" }, { "text": "each the subject of a petition for rehearing en banc. The first decision", "paragraph_id": "para_75" }, { "text": "rejected the motion of the United States to substitute the United States", "paragraph_id": "para_76" }, { "text": "as the defendant after the Attorney General certified that the", "paragraph_id": "para_77" }, { "text": "President “was acting within the scope of his office or employment at", "paragraph_id": "para_78" }, { "text": "the time of the incident out of which the claim arose.” 28 U.S.C.", "paragraph_id": "para_79" }, { "text": "§ 2679(d). The United States has petitioned for rehearing of that", "paragraph_id": "para_80" }, { "text": "decision.1 The second decision affirmed the judgment awarding $83.3", "paragraph_id": "para_81" }, { "text": "million in compensatory and punitive damages and denying the", "paragraph_id": "para_82" }, { "text": "President’s motion for a new trial or judgment as a matter of law.", "paragraph_id": "para_83" }, { "text": "President Trump has petitioned for rehearing of that decision,2 and", "paragraph_id": "para_84" }, { "text": "the United States has filed a brief in support of that petition.3", "paragraph_id": "para_85" }, { "text": "I would grant both petitions because both decisions were", "paragraph_id": "para_86" }, { "text": "erroneous. The panel opinion denying the motion for substitution", "paragraph_id": "para_87" }, { "text": "made three primary errors. First, the panel erroneously determined", "paragraph_id": "para_88" }, { "text": "that Attorney General Bondi had “waived” the right to make a", "paragraph_id": "para_89" }, { "text": "Westfall Act certification because Attorney General Garland had", "paragraph_id": "para_90" }, { "text": "previously declined to certify—even though (1) Garland himself had", "paragraph_id": "para_91" }, { "text": "reversed a prior certification by Attorney General Barr, (2) the Act", "paragraph_id": "para_92" }, { "text": "1 See Petition for Panel Rehearing and En Banc Determination of the United", "paragraph_id": "para_93" }, { "text": "States and President Donald J. Trump, Carroll v. Trump, No. 24-644 (2d Cir.", "paragraph_id": "para_94" }, { "text": "Aug. 22, 2025), ECF No. 132.1.", "paragraph_id": "para_95" }, { "text": "2 See Petition for Rehearing En Banc of President Donald J. Trump, Carroll", "paragraph_id": "para_96" }, { "text": "v. Trump, No. 24-644 (2d Cir. Sept. 23, 2025), ECF No. 138.1.", "paragraph_id": "para_97" }, { "text": "3 See Brief for the United States as Amicus Curiae, Carroll v. Trump, No. 24-", "paragraph_id": "para_98" }, { "text": "644 (2d Cir. Sept. 29, 2025), ECF No. 139.1.", "paragraph_id": "para_99" }, { "text": "2", "paragraph_id": "para_100" }, { "text": "contains no time limitation for making a certification, and (3) no", "paragraph_id": "para_101" }, { "text": "Attorney General was ever a party to the case and subject to any", "paragraph_id": "para_102" }, { "text": "waiver rules. Second, the panel misread the Westfall Act to prohibit", "paragraph_id": "para_103" }, { "text": "substitution following trial when a case begins in state court even", "paragraph_id": "para_104" }, { "text": "though everyone agrees that the Act allows substitution following", "paragraph_id": "para_105" }, { "text": "trial when a case begins in federal court. There is no justification for", "paragraph_id": "para_106" }, { "text": "the differential treatment. Third, the panel failed to correct the", "paragraph_id": "para_107" }, { "text": "decision of the district court that the President does not act within the", "paragraph_id": "para_108" }, { "text": "scope of his office when he makes public remarks to the press from", "paragraph_id": "para_109" }, { "text": "the White House.", "paragraph_id": "para_110" }, { "text": "The panel opinion affirming the judgment then made three", "paragraph_id": "para_111" }, { "text": "additional errors. First, the panel refused to address the effect of", "paragraph_id": "para_112" }, { "text": "presidential immunity under Trump v. United States, 603 U.S. 593", "paragraph_id": "para_113" }, { "text": "(2024). It did so on the doubly erroneous premise that President", "paragraph_id": "para_114" }, { "text": "Trump “waived” any immunity defense and that Trump v. United", "paragraph_id": "para_115" }, { "text": "States “simply reaffirmed long-established principles,” so nothing", "paragraph_id": "para_116" }, { "text": "prevented the President from raising the exact same arguments before", "paragraph_id": "para_117" }, { "text": "Trump v. United States was even decided. Carroll v. Trump, 151 F.4th", "paragraph_id": "para_118" }, { "text": "50, 67 (2025). That holding is not credible. Whatever one thinks about", "paragraph_id": "para_119" }, { "text": "the merits of Trump v. United States, everyone agrees that it represents", "paragraph_id": "para_120" }, { "text": "a significant legal development.4 Second, the panel wrongly held that", "paragraph_id": "para_121" }, { "text": "President Trump was properly denied a jury trial. The panel reasoned", "paragraph_id": "para_122" }, { "text": "that his liability for defamation for statements made in 2019 was", "paragraph_id": "para_123" }, { "text": "predetermined by a trial about different statements made in 2022. But", "paragraph_id": "para_124" }, { "text": "the jury verdict about a purported defamation in 2022 did not resolve", "paragraph_id": "para_125" }, { "text": "the question of whether he was liable for different statements made", "paragraph_id": "para_126" }, { "text": "4 See, e.g., Trump, 603 U.S. at 685 (Sotomayor, J., dissenting) (“The", "paragraph_id": "para_127" }, { "text": "relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted", "paragraph_id": "para_128" }, { "text": "irrevocably.”).", "paragraph_id": "para_129" }, { "text": "3", "paragraph_id": "para_130" }, { "text": "under different circumstances in 2019. Third, the panel upheld a", "paragraph_id": "para_131" }, { "text": "damages award that included unauthorized damages, duplicative", "paragraph_id": "para_132" }, { "text": "compensatory damages, and a grossly excessive monetary figure for", "paragraph_id": "para_133" }, { "text": "a defamation claim.", "paragraph_id": "para_134" }, { "text": "I would rehear the case en banc to bring our case law about the", "paragraph_id": "para_135" }, { "text": "scope of presidential duties and immunity into conformity with", "paragraph_id": "para_136" }, { "text": "decisions of the Supreme Court and to resolve these questions of", "paragraph_id": "para_137" }, { "text": "exceptional importance in line with the constitutional separation of", "paragraph_id": "para_138" }, { "text": "powers and normal judicial practice. See Fed. R. App. P. 40(b)(2)(B)-", "paragraph_id": "para_139" }, { "text": "(D). “In my view, the same rules should apply equally to all", "paragraph_id": "para_140" }, { "text": "defendants.” Carroll v. Trump, 141 F.4th 366, 368 (2d Cir. 2025)", "paragraph_id": "para_141" }, { "text": "(Menashi, J., dissenting from the denial of rehearing en banc).", "paragraph_id": "para_142" }, { "text": "I", "paragraph_id": "para_143" }, { "text": "Congress enacted the Westfall Act “to protect Federal", "paragraph_id": "para_144" }, { "text": "employees from personal liability for common law torts committed", "paragraph_id": "para_145" }, { "text": "within the scope of their employment.” Federal Employees Liability", "paragraph_id": "para_146" }, { "text": "Reform and Tort Compensation Act, Pub. L. No. 100-694, § 2(b),", "paragraph_id": "para_147" }, { "text": "102 Stat. 4563, 4564 (Nov. 18, 1988), codified at 28 U.S.C. § 2671 note.", "paragraph_id": "para_148" }, { "text": "The Act authorizes the Attorney General to certify “that the defendant", "paragraph_id": "para_149" }, { "text": "employee was acting within the scope of his office or employment at", "paragraph_id": "para_150" }, { "text": "the time of the incident out of which the claim arose.” 28 U.S.C.", "paragraph_id": "para_151" }, { "text": "§ 2679(d)(1)-(2). Upon such certification, two things will happen.", "paragraph_id": "para_152" }, { "text": "First, the action will be removed to federal court if it was commenced", "paragraph_id": "para_153" }, { "text": "in state court and a trial has not yet occurred. See id. § 2679(d)(2).", "paragraph_id": "para_154" }, { "text": "Second, the action “shall be deemed an action against the United", "paragraph_id": "para_155" }, { "text": "States” and “the United States shall be substituted as the party", "paragraph_id": "para_156" }, { "text": "defendant.” Id. § 2679(d)(1); id. § 2679(d)(2) (similarly providing for", "paragraph_id": "para_157" }, { "text": "substitution).", "paragraph_id": "para_158" }, { "text": "4", "paragraph_id": "para_159" }, { "text": "The paradigmatic cases of substitution under the Westfall Act", "paragraph_id": "para_160" }, { "text": "are those in which a driver conducting government business", "paragraph_id": "para_161" }, { "text": "allegedly injures someone in a car accident, see, e.g., De Martinez v.", "paragraph_id": "para_162" }, { "text": "Lamagno, 515 U.S. 417, 420-21 (1995), or in which a doctor employed", "paragraph_id": "para_163" }, { "text": "by the government injures a patient through alleged malpractice, see,", "paragraph_id": "para_164" }, { "text": "e.g., Sanchez v. United States, 740 F.3d 47, 49-50 (1st Cir. 2014). The", "paragraph_id": "para_165" }, { "text": "Attorney General will certify that the driver or the doctor was acting", "paragraph_id": "para_166" }, { "text": "within the scope of his government employment when driving or", "paragraph_id": "para_167" }, { "text": "when treating patients—not that the tortious conduct itself was an", "paragraph_id": "para_168" }, { "text": "official act—and then the tort suit will proceed against the United", "paragraph_id": "para_169" }, { "text": "States. “Ordinarily, scope-of-employment certifications occasion no", "paragraph_id": "para_170" }, { "text": "contest.” De Martinez, 515 U.S. at 422.", "paragraph_id": "para_171" }, { "text": "It is a unique circumstance when this statutory framework", "paragraph_id": "para_172" }, { "text": "applies to the President of the United States. The President may be an", "paragraph_id": "para_173" }, { "text": "“employee of the government,” 28 U.S.C. § 2671, but he also “alone", "paragraph_id": "para_174" }, { "text": "composes a branch of government,” Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP,", "paragraph_id": "para_175" }, { "text": "591 U.S. 848, 868 (2020). This circumstance should make it easier to", "paragraph_id": "para_176" }, { "text": "determine that the President was acting within the scope of his office", "paragraph_id": "para_177" }, { "text": "when the purportedly tortious conduct occurred: The President,", "paragraph_id": "para_178" }, { "text": "compared to other government employees, has an especially broad", "paragraph_id": "para_179" }, { "text": "scope of office. “[T]here is not always a clear line between his personal", "paragraph_id": "para_180" }, { "text": "and official affairs,” id., because “unlike anyone else, the President is", "paragraph_id": "para_181" }, { "text": "a branch of government, and the Constitution vests in him sweeping", "paragraph_id": "para_182" }, { "text": "powers and duties,” Trump, 603 U.S. at 639-40. In this case, the", "paragraph_id": "para_183" }, { "text": "President made the allegedly defamatory statements when he issued", "paragraph_id": "para_184" }, { "text": "a press release and responded to press inquiries from the White", "paragraph_id": "para_185" }, { "text": "House. Making public statements to the press is part of the President’s", "paragraph_id": "para_186" }, { "text": "job. When the President engages in “public communications,” he", "paragraph_id": "para_187" }, { "text": "discharges “official responsibilities” and therefore acts within the", "paragraph_id": "para_188" }, { "text": "5", "paragraph_id": "para_189" }, { "text": "scope of the office. Id. at 629.5 That principle is well-established with", "paragraph_id": "para_190" }, { "text": "respect to other elected officials. See CAIR v. Ballenger, 444 F.3d 659,", "paragraph_id": "para_191" }, { "text": "661 (D.C. Cir. 2006) (“In this defamation action, we consider whether", "paragraph_id": "para_192" }, { "text": "a congressman acted ‘within the scope of employment’ when he", "paragraph_id": "para_193" }, { "text": "discussed his marital status in his office, during regular business", "paragraph_id": "para_194" }, { "text": "hours, in response to a reporter’s inquiries. The District Court held", "paragraph_id": "para_195" }, { "text": "that he did, and we agree.”). Compared to the public communications", "paragraph_id": "para_196" }, { "text": "of a congressman, the President’s public comments present an easier", "paragraph_id": "para_197" }, { "text": "case because the Supreme Court has expressly said that public", "paragraph_id": "para_198" }, { "text": "communications fall within the scope of his office.", "paragraph_id": "para_199" }, { "text": "The decisions here, however, suggested that the President of", "paragraph_id": "para_200" }, { "text": "the United States has a much narrower scope of office than a", "paragraph_id": "para_201" }, { "text": "government driver or doctor. The district court rejected Attorney", "paragraph_id": "para_202" }, { "text": "General Barr’s certification on the ground that “the question of", "paragraph_id": "para_203" }, { "text": "whether government employees are acting within the scope of their", "paragraph_id": "para_204" }, { "text": "employment” must be resolved “under the respondeat superior", "paragraph_id": "para_205" }, { "text": "doctrine” of the state—or the federal district—in which the", "paragraph_id": "para_206" }, { "text": "purportedly tortious conduct occurred. Carroll v. Trump, 498", "paragraph_id": "para_207" }, { "text": "F. Supp. 3d 422, 443-44 (S.D.N.Y. 2020). The district court explained", "paragraph_id": "para_208" }, { "text": "that “the respondeat superior doctrines of New York and the District of", "paragraph_id": "para_209" }, { "text": "Columbia” provide that “respondeat superior liability does not", "paragraph_id": "para_210" }, { "text": "apply … unless the employer exercises, or has the ability to exercise,", "paragraph_id": "para_211" }, { "text": "control over the employee’s relevant actions.” Id. at 446. Because no", "paragraph_id": "para_212" }, { "text": "one “directed or controlled President Trump when he commented on", "paragraph_id": "para_213" }, { "text": "the plaintiff’s accusation,” the President “was not acting within the", "paragraph_id": "para_214" }, { "text": "5 “[A] long-recognized aspect of Presidential power is using the office’s", "paragraph_id": "para_215" }, { "text": "‘bully pulpit’ to persuade Americans, including by speaking forcefully or", "paragraph_id": "para_216" }, { "text": "critically,” and the President “is even expected to comment on those matters", "paragraph_id": "para_217" }, { "text": "of public concern that may not directly implicate the activities of the Federal", "paragraph_id": "para_218" }, { "text": "Government.” Trump, 603 U.S. at 629.", "paragraph_id": "para_219" }, { "text": "6", "paragraph_id": "para_220" }, { "text": "scope of his employment when he made them, and the Attorney", "paragraph_id": "para_221" }, { "text": "General’s certification under the Westfall Act was erroneous.” Id. at", "paragraph_id": "para_222" }, { "text": "450.", "paragraph_id": "para_223" }, { "text": "That analysis was incorrect. It meant that the President acts", "paragraph_id": "para_224" }, { "text": "within the scope of his office only to the extent that he carries out the", "paragraph_id": "para_225" }, { "text": "orders of someone else. In our constitutional system, however, the", "paragraph_id": "para_226" }, { "text": "President directs executive officers rather than the other way around.6", "paragraph_id": "para_227" }, { "text": "And the head of an organization certainly can act within the scope of", "paragraph_id": "para_228" }, { "text": "his employment.7 Putting aside for the moment how bizarre it is to", "paragraph_id": "para_229" }, { "text": "determine the scope of the presidential office by reference to state", "paragraph_id": "para_230" }, { "text": "employment law rather than to the U.S. Constitution,8 the analysis of", "paragraph_id": "para_231" }, { "text": "the district court did not make sense even on its own terms. It", "paragraph_id": "para_232" }, { "text": "rendered the President’s actions within the scope of his office a null", "paragraph_id": "para_233" }, { "text": "set. That was clearly wrong; the President is the executive official with", "paragraph_id": "para_234" }, { "text": "the broadest scope of office. See Barr v. Matteo, 360 U.S. 564, 573 (1959)", "paragraph_id": "para_235" }, { "text": "(“[T]he occasions upon which the acts of the head of an executive", "paragraph_id": "para_236" }, { "text": "department will be protected by the privilege are doubtless far", "paragraph_id": "para_237" }, { "text": "6 The Constitution “establishes the President as the chief constitutional", "paragraph_id": "para_238" }, { "text": "officer of the Executive Branch, entrusted with supervisory and policy", "paragraph_id": "para_239" }, { "text": "responsibilities of utmost discretion and sensitivity. These include the", "paragraph_id": "para_240" }, { "text": "enforcement of federal law … and management of the Executive Branch.”", "paragraph_id": "para_241" }, { "text": "Nixon v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 731, 750 (1982); see also Alpine Sec. Corp. v.", "paragraph_id": "para_242" }, { "text": "FINRA, 121 F.4th 1314, 1338 (D.C. Cir. 2024) (Walker, J., concurring in the", "paragraph_id": "para_243" }, { "text": "judgment in part and dissenting in part) (“[E]xecutive power can be", "paragraph_id": "para_244" }, { "text": "exercised only by the President (accountable to the nation) and his", "paragraph_id": "para_245" }, { "text": "executive officers (accountable to him).”).", "paragraph_id": "para_246" }, { "text": "7 Cf. Perconti v. Thornton Oil Corp., No. 18630, 2002 WL 982419, at *4 (Del.", "paragraph_id": "para_247" }, { "text": "Ch. May 3, 2002) (considering whether the president and chief executive", "paragraph_id": "para_248" }, { "text": "officer of a corporation acted in his “official corporate capacity”) (alteration", "paragraph_id": "para_249" }, { "text": "omitted).", "paragraph_id": "para_250" }, { "text": "8 See infra note 17.", "paragraph_id": "para_251" }, { "text": "7", "paragraph_id": "para_252" }, { "text": "broader than in the case of an officer with less sweeping functions.", "paragraph_id": "para_253" }, { "text": "But that is because the higher the post, the broader the range of", "paragraph_id": "para_254" }, { "text": "responsibilities and duties, and the wider the scope of discretion, it", "paragraph_id": "para_255" }, { "text": "entails.”).", "paragraph_id": "para_256" }, { "text": "Our court then compounded the error. We said that the scope", "paragraph_id": "para_257" }, { "text": "of the office of the President of the United States “is governed by the", "paragraph_id": "para_258" }, { "text": "District of Columbia’s respondeat superior law” but concluded that “the", "paragraph_id": "para_259" }, { "text": "District’s law regarding vicarious liability is sufficiently unclear that", "paragraph_id": "para_260" }, { "text": "we are unable to predict with any confidence how the District’s", "paragraph_id": "para_261" }, { "text": "highest court—the D.C. Court of Appeals—would resolve this issue.”", "paragraph_id": "para_262" }, { "text": "Carroll v. Trump, 49 F.4th 759, 766-67 (2d Cir. 2022). So the Second", "paragraph_id": "para_263" }, { "text": "Circuit asked the municipal D.C. court to answer the following", "paragraph_id": "para_264" }, { "text": "certified question: “Under the laws of the District, were the allegedly", "paragraph_id": "para_265" }, { "text": "libelous public statements made, during his term in office, by the", "paragraph_id": "para_266" }, { "text": "President of the United States, denying allegations of misconduct,", "paragraph_id": "para_267" }, { "text": "with regards to events prior to that term of office, within the scope of", "paragraph_id": "para_268" }, { "text": "his employment as President of the United States?” Id. at 781. In other", "paragraph_id": "para_269" }, { "text": "words, our court asked whether under the local laws of the District of", "paragraph_id": "para_270" }, { "text": "Columbia the President of the United States had acted within the", "paragraph_id": "para_271" }, { "text": "scope of his employment.", "paragraph_id": "para_272" }, { "text": "The D.C. Court of Appeals answered the question only “by", "paragraph_id": "para_273" }, { "text": "affirming that the District of Columbia generally adheres to § 228 of", "paragraph_id": "para_274" }, { "text": "the Restatement (Second) of Agency’s traditional view of the scope-", "paragraph_id": "para_275" }, { "text": "of-employment inquiry of respondeat superior, although our case", "paragraph_id": "para_276" }, { "text": "precedents construe more expansively some of the concepts set forth", "paragraph_id": "para_277" }, { "text": "therein.” Trump v. Carroll, 292 A.3d 220, 240 (D.C. 2023). For example,", "paragraph_id": "para_278" }, { "text": "the Restatement provides that “an employer is liable for an", "paragraph_id": "para_279" }, { "text": "employee’s tortious conduct in circumstances where the conduct is of", "paragraph_id": "para_280" }, { "text": "the kind the person is employed to perform,” but the law of the", "paragraph_id": "para_281" }, { "text": "District of Columbia recognizes that “[m]any employees have", "paragraph_id": "para_282" }, { "text": "8", "paragraph_id": "para_283" }, { "text": "informal responsibilities that are as integral to their employment as", "paragraph_id": "para_284" }, { "text": "their formal responsibilities, and therefore are just as sound of a basis", "paragraph_id": "para_285" }, { "text": "for applying respondeat superior liability.” Id. at 230 (internal quotation", "paragraph_id": "para_286" }, { "text": "marks and alteration omitted).", "paragraph_id": "para_287" }, { "text": "This purported clarification did not clarify very much, except", "paragraph_id": "para_288" }, { "text": "perhaps to make it more obvious that the President was acting within", "paragraph_id": "para_289" }, { "text": "the scope of his office when responding to reporters at the White", "paragraph_id": "para_290" }, { "text": "House. Nevertheless, according to the panel, this trivial clarification", "paragraph_id": "para_291" }, { "text": "from a local court in D.C. provided “a new legal and factual record”", "paragraph_id": "para_292" }, { "text": "that allowed Attorney General Garland to reconsider the certification", "paragraph_id": "para_293" }, { "text": "of Attorney General Barr. Carroll v. Trump, 148 F.4th 110, 120 (2023).", "paragraph_id": "para_294" }, { "text": "Yet the panel further held that Attorney General Bondi was not", "paragraph_id": "para_295" }, { "text": "allowed to reconsider the certification of Attorney General Garland:", "paragraph_id": "para_296" }, { "text": "“The government determined that certification was not appropriate", "paragraph_id": "para_297" }, { "text": "under the respondeat superior standard as clarified by the D.C. Court", "paragraph_id": "para_298" }, { "text": "of Appeals and explicitly so advised the District Court. It cannot now", "paragraph_id": "para_299" }, { "text": "change course on appeal. The government has waived its right to", "paragraph_id": "para_300" }, { "text": "bring this belated motion.” Id. The panel made several errors by", "paragraph_id": "para_301" }, { "text": "forbidding Attorney General Bondi from making a motion under the", "paragraph_id": "para_302" }, { "text": "Westfall Act.", "paragraph_id": "para_303" }, { "text": "A", "paragraph_id": "para_304" }, { "text": "First, the waiver holding made no sense. The panel opinion said", "paragraph_id": "para_305" }, { "text": "that “our law of waiver does not permit a party to withdraw an", "paragraph_id": "para_306" }, { "text": "objection in the district court and then attempt to reassert that", "paragraph_id": "para_307" }, { "text": "objection on appeal, with the benefit of hindsight.” Carroll, 148 F.4th", "paragraph_id": "para_308" }, { "text": "at 120. But the United States has never been “a party” to this litigation,", "paragraph_id": "para_309" }, { "text": "and the Attorney General’s certification under the Westfall Act is not", "paragraph_id": "para_310" }, { "text": "an objection, pleading, or argument of a litigant. Congress enacted a", "paragraph_id": "para_311" }, { "text": "statute that authorizes the Attorney General to make a scope-of-", "paragraph_id": "para_312" }, { "text": "9", "paragraph_id": "para_313" }, { "text": "employment certification, and the statute does not prohibit the", "paragraph_id": "para_314" }, { "text": "Attorney General—or a successive Attorney General—from making", "paragraph_id": "para_315" }, { "text": "a new certification based on a revised assessment of the law or the", "paragraph_id": "para_316" }, { "text": "facts. “Nothing in the [Westfall Act] contemplates anything like the", "paragraph_id": "para_317" }, { "text": "embellishment the [Second] Circuit has adopted. And it is long since", "paragraph_id": "para_318" }, { "text": "settled that a reviewing court is generally not free to impose", "paragraph_id": "para_319" }, { "text": "additional judge-made procedural requirements on agencies that", "paragraph_id": "para_320" }, { "text": "Congress has not prescribed and the Constitution does not compel.”", "paragraph_id": "para_321" }, { "text": "Garland v. Ming Dai, 593 U.S. 357, 365 (2021) (internal quotation marks", "paragraph_id": "para_322" }, { "text": "omitted).", "paragraph_id": "para_323" }, { "text": "At the same time, the panel opinion said that Attorney General", "paragraph_id": "para_324" }, { "text": "Garland—unlike Attorney General Bondi—was entitled to conclude", "paragraph_id": "para_325" }, { "text": "that “[t]he prior certification and motion to substitute have been", "paragraph_id": "para_326" }, { "text": "overtaken by events” given “the D.C. Court of Appeals’ clarification", "paragraph_id": "para_327" }, { "text": "of the standard for respondeat superior liability under D.C. law,”", "paragraph_id": "para_328" }, { "text": "such that “[t]he Attorney General should therefore be given the", "paragraph_id": "para_329" }, { "text": "opportunity to decide anew whether to certify that Mr. Trump was", "paragraph_id": "para_330" }, { "text": "acting within the scope of his office as President at the time of the", "paragraph_id": "para_331" }, { "text": "incidents out of which the plaintiff’s claim arose.” Carroll, 148 F.4th at", "paragraph_id": "para_332" }, { "text": "114 (quoting Letter, Carroll v. Trump, No. 20-CV-7311 (S.D.N.Y. June", "paragraph_id": "para_333" }, { "text": "9, 2023), ECF No. 166; Letter, Carroll v. Trump, No. 20-CV-7311", "paragraph_id": "para_334" }, { "text": "(S.D.N.Y. July 11, 2023), ECF No. 177-1).", "paragraph_id": "para_335" }, { "text": "Subsequent to Attorney General Garland’s withdrawal of the", "paragraph_id": "para_336" }, { "text": "Barr certification, however, the United States held an election in", "paragraph_id": "para_337" }, { "text": "which the government’s assessment of this sort of litigation was a", "paragraph_id": "para_338" }, { "text": "matter of public debate. 9 If the clarification of the D.C. Court of", "paragraph_id": "para_339" }, { "text": "Appeals justified a reconsideration of the government’s position, then", "paragraph_id": "para_340" }, { "text": "9 See, e.g., Jonathan Turley, Donald Trump Just Won the Greatest Jury Verdict", "paragraph_id": "para_341" }, { "text": "in American History, The Hill (Nov. 6, 2024).", "paragraph_id": "para_342" }, { "text": "10", "paragraph_id": "para_343" }, { "text": "so did the election. A “changed view” of the government may be", "paragraph_id": "para_344" }, { "text": "“related to the election of a new President of a different political", "paragraph_id": "para_345" }, { "text": "party” because a “change in administration brought about by the", "paragraph_id": "para_346" }, { "text": "people casting their votes is a perfectly reasonable basis for an", "paragraph_id": "para_347" }, { "text": "executive agency’s reappraisal of the costs and benefits of its", "paragraph_id": "para_348" }, { "text": "programs.” Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Ass’n v. State Farm Mut. Auto.", "paragraph_id": "para_349" }, { "text": "Ins. Co., 463 U.S. 29, 59 (1983) (Rehnquist, J., concurring in part and", "paragraph_id": "para_350" }, { "text": "dissenting in part). The Attorney General was entitled to “evaluate", "paragraph_id": "para_351" }, { "text": "priorities in light of the philosophy of the administration.” Id. There", "paragraph_id": "para_352" }, { "text": "was no principled justification for holding that Attorney General", "paragraph_id": "para_353" }, { "text": "Barr’s certification decision could be revisited by Attorney General", "paragraph_id": "para_354" }, { "text": "Garland but Attorney General Garland’s certification decision could", "paragraph_id": "para_355" }, { "text": "not be revisited by Attorney General Bondi.", "paragraph_id": "para_356" }, { "text": "The panel opinion indicated that, after Attorney General", "paragraph_id": "para_357" }, { "text": "Garland’s withdrawal of the Barr certification, President Trump", "paragraph_id": "para_358" }, { "text": "himself could have petitioned for the district court “to find and certify", "paragraph_id": "para_359" }, { "text": "that the employee was acting within the scope of his office or", "paragraph_id": "para_360" }, { "text": "employment.” 28 U.S.C. § 2679(d)(3). The panel said that “[b]y", "paragraph_id": "para_361" }, { "text": "declining to seek such relief, Trump waived his right to now bring", "paragraph_id": "para_362" }, { "text": "this motion.” Carroll, 148 F.4th at 119-20. In fact, President Trump did", "paragraph_id": "para_363" }, { "text": "seek such relief. On June 9, 2023, Attorney General Garland indicated", "paragraph_id": "para_364" }, { "text": "that the prior certification had been “overtaken by events.” Id. at 114.", "paragraph_id": "para_365" }, { "text": "On June 27, 2023, President Trump raised as an affirmative defense", "paragraph_id": "para_366" }, { "text": "that he “made the challenged statements within the scope of his", "paragraph_id": "para_367" }, { "text": "employment, and is therefore immune from suit under the Westfall", "paragraph_id": "para_368" }, { "text": "Act.” 10 Regardless, whether the employee has sought certification", "paragraph_id": "para_369" }, { "text": "10 Defendant’s Answer to Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint,", "paragraph_id": "para_370" }, { "text": "Affirmative Defenses and Counterclaim at 22 ¶ 19, Carroll v. Trump, No. 20-", "paragraph_id": "para_371" }, { "text": "CV-7311 (S.D.N.Y. June 27, 2023), ECF No. 171.", "paragraph_id": "para_372" }, { "text": "11", "paragraph_id": "para_373" }, { "text": "under § 2679(d)(3) cannot operate as a waiver of the authority of the", "paragraph_id": "para_374" }, { "text": "Attorney General to certify under § 2679(d)(1) or (d)(2).11", "paragraph_id": "para_375" }, { "text": "B", "paragraph_id": "para_376" }, { "text": "Second, the panel opinion misinterpreted the Westfall Act to", "paragraph_id": "para_377" }, { "text": "prohibit a substitution based on Attorney General Bondi’s", "paragraph_id": "para_378" }, { "text": "certification. According to the panel opinion, when a case begins in", "paragraph_id": "para_379" }, { "text": "federal court, the Attorney General may move for substitution at any", "paragraph_id": "para_380" }, { "text": "time—including after trial. When a case begins in state court,", "paragraph_id": "para_381" }, { "text": "however, the Attorney General’s motion for substitution “must be", "paragraph_id": "para_382" }, { "text": "made before trial” even if, as in this case, the trial occurred in federal", "paragraph_id": "para_383" }, { "text": "court. Carroll, 148 F.4th at 119. That differential treatment of", "paragraph_id": "para_384" }, { "text": "substitution motions by the Attorney General is arbitrary and lacks a", "paragraph_id": "para_385" }, { "text": "basis in the statute.", "paragraph_id": "para_386" }, { "text": "Pursuant to the Westfall Act, there is no time limitation on a", "paragraph_id": "para_387" }, { "text": "motion for substitution when the case begins in federal court. The", "paragraph_id": "para_388" }, { "text": "statute provides that:", "paragraph_id": "para_389" }, { "text": "Upon certification by the Attorney General that the", "paragraph_id": "para_390" }, { "text": "defendant employee was acting within the scope of his", "paragraph_id": "para_391" }, { "text": "11 Moreover, we do not normally require a litigant to make a futile motion", "paragraph_id": "para_392" }, { "text": "before a district court. See New York, N.H. & H.R. Co. v. Iannotti, 567 F.2d", "paragraph_id": "para_393" }, { "text": "166, 180 (2d Cir. 1977) (“The law does not require that one act in vain.”).", "paragraph_id": "para_394" }, { "text": "The district court had already rejected the certification of Attorney General", "paragraph_id": "para_395" }, { "text": "Barr, it treated the withdrawal of the certification by Attorney General", "paragraph_id": "para_396" }, { "text": "Garland as dispositive, and it indicated that it would not entertain further", "paragraph_id": "para_397" }, { "text": "motions on the issue after the government withdrew its certification. See", "paragraph_id": "para_398" }, { "text": "Order, Carroll v. Trump, No. 20-CV-7311 (S.D.N.Y. June 13, 2023), ECF", "paragraph_id": "para_399" }, { "text": "No. 169 (“In all the circumstances, any further submission by the United", "paragraph_id": "para_400" }, { "text": "States (including any new or amended certification and/or motion to", "paragraph_id": "para_401" }, { "text": "substitute) and/or the defendant with respect to substitution of the United", "paragraph_id": "para_402" }, { "text": "States for the defendant shall be served and filed no later than July 13,", "paragraph_id": "para_403" }, { "text": "2023.”).", "paragraph_id": "para_404" }, { "text": "12", "paragraph_id": "para_405" }, { "text": "office or employment at the time of the incident out of", "paragraph_id": "para_406" }, { "text": "which the claim arose, any civil action or proceeding", "paragraph_id": "para_407" }, { "text": "commenced upon such claim in a United States district", "paragraph_id": "para_408" }, { "text": "court shall be deemed an action against the United States", "paragraph_id": "para_409" }, { "text": "under the provisions of this title and all references", "paragraph_id": "para_410" }, { "text": "thereto, and the United States shall be substituted as the", "paragraph_id": "para_411" }, { "text": "party defendant.", "paragraph_id": "para_412" }, { "text": "28 U.S.C. § 2679(d)(1). Everyone agrees that the Attorney General", "paragraph_id": "para_413" }, { "text": "may make a certification pursuant to § 2679(d)(1) and a substitution", "paragraph_id": "para_414" }, { "text": "may occur even after a trial has concluded.12 When the case begins in", "paragraph_id": "para_415" }, { "text": "a state court, however, the case may be removed to federal court only", "paragraph_id": "para_416" }, { "text": "until the trial has begun in state court:", "paragraph_id": "para_417" }, { "text": "Upon certification by the Attorney General that the", "paragraph_id": "para_418" }, { "text": "defendant employee was acting within the scope of his", "paragraph_id": "para_419" }, { "text": "office or employment at the time of the incident out of", "paragraph_id": "para_420" }, { "text": "which the claim arose, any civil action or proceeding", "paragraph_id": "para_421" }, { "text": "commenced upon such claim in a State court shall be", "paragraph_id": "para_422" }, { "text": "removed without bond at any time before trial by the Attorney", "paragraph_id": "para_423" }, { "text": "General to the district court of the United States for the district", "paragraph_id": "para_424" }, { "text": "and division embracing the place in which the action or", "paragraph_id": "para_425" }, { "text": "12 See, e.g., Sullivan v. United States, 21 F.3d 198, 205 (7th Cir. 1994) (“Section", "paragraph_id": "para_426" }, { "text": "2679(d)(1), … which applies to suits against government employees", "paragraph_id": "para_427" }, { "text": "commenced in federal court, also places no limitation on the point at which", "paragraph_id": "para_428" }, { "text": "the Attorney General must certify that the employee was acting within the", "paragraph_id": "para_429" }, { "text": "scope of his employment.”); Melo v. Hafer, 13 F.3d 736, 747 (3d Cir. 1994)", "paragraph_id": "para_430" }, { "text": "(“[T]he Attorney General may file a certification under § 2679(d)(1)", "paragraph_id": "para_431" }, { "text": "whenever he or she concludes that an employee defendant was acting", "paragraph_id": "para_432" }, { "text": "within the scope of his or her employment at the relevant time or times.”);", "paragraph_id": "para_433" }, { "text": "Sowell v. Am. Cyanamid Co., 888 F.2d 802, 805 (11th Cir. 1989) (“Here, the", "paragraph_id": "para_434" }, { "text": "Department of Justice has determined that Harrison was acting within the", "paragraph_id": "para_435" }, { "text": "scope of his employment, a determination which is obviously correct in", "paragraph_id": "para_436" }, { "text": "light of the testimony at trial. Therefore, it follows that the United States", "paragraph_id": "para_437" }, { "text": "should be substituted for the federal employee.”) (emphasis added).", "paragraph_id": "para_438" }, { "text": "13", "paragraph_id": "para_439" }, { "text": "proceeding is pending. Such action or proceeding shall be", "paragraph_id": "para_440" }, { "text": "deemed to be an action or proceeding brought against", "paragraph_id": "para_441" }, { "text": "the United States under the provisions of this title and all", "paragraph_id": "para_442" }, { "text": "references thereto, and the United States shall be", "paragraph_id": "para_443" }, { "text": "substituted as the party defendant. This certification of", "paragraph_id": "para_444" }, { "text": "the Attorney General shall conclusively establish scope", "paragraph_id": "para_445" }, { "text": "of office or employment for purposes of removal.", "paragraph_id": "para_446" }, { "text": "28 U.S.C. § 2679(d)(2) (emphasis added). It makes sense that removal", "paragraph_id": "para_447" }, { "text": "would need to occur before trial in a state court. Otherwise, a federal", "paragraph_id": "para_448" }, { "text": "court of appeals would be reviewing state-court trial proceedings. But", "paragraph_id": "para_449" }, { "text": "the same logic does not apply to substitution, and indeed Congress", "paragraph_id": "para_450" }, { "text": "provided for substitution in a separate sentence—not modified by the", "paragraph_id": "para_451" }, { "text": "“at any time before trial” language—with language that parallels the", "paragraph_id": "para_452" }, { "text": "provision for substitution in § 2679(d)(1). “Congress does not use the", "paragraph_id": "para_453" }, { "text": "same words to accomplish the opposite objective,” Everytown for Gun", "paragraph_id": "para_454" }, { "text": "Safety Support Fund v. ATF, 984 F.3d 30, 34 (2d Cir. 2020), and there is", "paragraph_id": "para_455" }, { "text": "no reason to believe that the substitution language in the two", "paragraph_id": "para_456" }, { "text": "provisions does not have the same scope. The straightforward way to", "paragraph_id": "para_457" }, { "text": "read § 2679(d)(2) is that when the Attorney General makes a", "paragraph_id": "para_458" }, { "text": "certification, (1) the action shall be removed at any time before trial,", "paragraph_id": "para_459" }, { "text": "and (2) the United States shall be substituted as the defendant. The", "paragraph_id": "para_460" }, { "text": "statute does not say, as the panel opinion held, that any certification", "paragraph_id": "para_461" }, { "text": "must be made before trial. “Congress spoke in discrete sentences in", "paragraph_id": "para_462" }, { "text": "§ 2679(d)(2) first of removal, then of substitution.” De Martinez,", "paragraph_id": "para_463" }, { "text": "515 U.S. at 432.", "paragraph_id": "para_464" }, { "text": "The interpretation of the panel opinion is at odds with not only", "paragraph_id": "para_465" }, { "text": "the text but also the structure of the statute. “[T]o foreclose needless", "paragraph_id": "para_466" }, { "text": "shuttling of a case from one court to another,” Congress made", "paragraph_id": "para_467" }, { "text": "“certification conclusive for purposes of removal.” Id. at 433 n.10", "paragraph_id": "para_468" }, { "text": "(internal quotation marks and alterations omitted). That means that", "paragraph_id": "para_469" }, { "text": "§ 2679(d)(2) authorizes two different steps: (1) removal, which is", "paragraph_id": "para_470" }, { "text": "14", "paragraph_id": "para_471" }, { "text": "automatic and conclusive, and (2) substitution, which occasions", "paragraph_id": "para_472" }, { "text": "further judicial review. The panel itself emphasized that", "paragraph_id": "para_473" }, { "text": "“[c]ertification is conclusive for purposes of the removal to federal", "paragraph_id": "para_474" }, { "text": "court, but the question of substitution is subject to judicial review.”", "paragraph_id": "para_475" }, { "text": "Carroll, 148 F.4th at 113. Given this two-step process, there is no reason", "paragraph_id": "para_476" }, { "text": "to expect removal and substitution to occur simultaneously or even", "paragraph_id": "para_477" }, { "text": "to result from the same certification decision. This very case was", "paragraph_id": "para_478" }, { "text": "removed to federal court—where the trial occurred—because", "paragraph_id": "para_479" }, { "text": "Attorney General Barr’s certification was conclusive for purposes of", "paragraph_id": "para_480" }, { "text": "removal. But the United States was not substituted as the defendant", "paragraph_id": "para_481" }, { "text": "because Attorney General Garland later decided not to certify for", "paragraph_id": "para_482" }, { "text": "purposes of substitution. The panel insisted that because “removal", "paragraph_id": "para_483" }, { "text": "must be accomplished before trial” it follows that “the certification", "paragraph_id": "para_484" }, { "text": "must be made before trial, too.” Id. at 116. But that conclusion does", "paragraph_id": "para_485" }, { "text": "not follow because—as this case illustrates—the removal and the", "paragraph_id": "para_486" }, { "text": "substitution may occur at different times and be governed by", "paragraph_id": "para_487" }, { "text": "different certifications.", "paragraph_id": "para_488" }, { "text": "The panel opinion insisted that its counterintuitive reading", "paragraph_id": "para_489" }, { "text": "found support in the “broader role and purpose of the Westfall Act,”", "paragraph_id": "para_490" }, { "text": "which it defined narrowly as “supplant[ing] the jury in covered cases", "paragraph_id": "para_491" }, { "text": "because FTCA cases are subject to bench trials.” Id. at 117 (internal", "paragraph_id": "para_492" }, { "text": "quotation marks omitted). “Logically,” it said, the substitution “must", "paragraph_id": "para_493" }, { "text": "occur prior to trial” because “[s]upplanting the jury as factfinder has", "paragraph_id": "para_494" }, { "text": "little utility in a case, like this one, that has already been tried to a", "paragraph_id": "para_495" }, { "text": "jury.” Id. But in the enacted statement of purpose, Congress said that", "paragraph_id": "para_496" }, { "text": "the purpose of the Westfall Act is “to protect Federal employees from", "paragraph_id": "para_497" }, { "text": "personal liability for common law torts committed within the scope", "paragraph_id": "para_498" }, { "text": "of their employment” based on the congressional finding that “[t]he", "paragraph_id": "para_499" }, { "text": "prospect of such liability will seriously undermine the morale and", "paragraph_id": "para_500" }, { "text": "well being of Federal employees, impede the ability of agencies to", "paragraph_id": "para_501" }, { "text": "15", "paragraph_id": "para_502" }, { "text": "carry out their missions, and diminish the vitality of the Federal Tort", "paragraph_id": "para_503" }, { "text": "Claims Act as the proper remedy for Federal employee torts.”", "paragraph_id": "para_504" }, { "text": "102 Stat. at 4563-64. The need to protect federal employees does not", "paragraph_id": "para_505" }, { "text": "disappear—and might become more urgent—once a trial has", "paragraph_id": "para_506" }, { "text": "occurred. That is why § 2679(d)(1) does not require that a motion for", "paragraph_id": "para_507" }, { "text": "substitution be made only before trial, and it is why § 2679(d)(2) does", "paragraph_id": "para_508" }, { "text": "not logically do so either. It would undermine the congressional", "paragraph_id": "para_509" }, { "text": "purpose if the plaintiff’s mere election to file a complaint in state", "paragraph_id": "para_510" }, { "text": "rather than federal court would restrict the ability of the United States", "paragraph_id": "para_511" }, { "text": "to provide a defense.", "paragraph_id": "para_512" }, { "text": "The panel opinion also created a circuit split. The D.C. Circuit", "paragraph_id": "para_513" }, { "text": "has held that when a case is timely removed to federal court, a new", "paragraph_id": "para_514" }, { "text": "case is “commenced” in the district court that allows “the United", "paragraph_id": "para_515" }, { "text": "States to substitute itself for [the federal employee defendant]", "paragraph_id": "para_516" }, { "text": "pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2679(d)(1).” Wasserman v. Rodacker, 557 F.3d", "paragraph_id": "para_517" }, { "text": "635, 639 (D.C. Cir. 2009). The D.C. Circuit explained that “[w]hile any", "paragraph_id": "para_518" }, { "text": "case removed from a state court necessarily originated outside of", "paragraph_id": "para_519" }, { "text": "district court, its removal creates a federal civil case … with a", "paragraph_id": "para_520" }, { "text": "procedural beginning and end. … According to the applicable rules", "paragraph_id": "para_521" }, { "text": "of civil procedure, [the federal] action commenced in the district court", "paragraph_id": "para_522" }, { "text": "when removal was effected and the complaint was received by the", "paragraph_id": "para_523" }, { "text": "clerk.” Id. (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 3, 5(d)(2)). As a result, “§ 2679(d)(1)", "paragraph_id": "para_524" }, { "text": "applies” to the removed action and that provision “allows the United", "paragraph_id": "para_525" }, { "text": "States to replace [the federal employee] as the party defendant to the", "paragraph_id": "para_526" }, { "text": "tort claims.” Id. Under that rule, § 2679(d)(1) would apply to this", "paragraph_id": "para_527" }, { "text": "16", "paragraph_id": "para_528" }, { "text": "removed case and there would indisputably be no time limitation on", "paragraph_id": "para_529" }, { "text": "the ability of the United States to move for substitution.13", "paragraph_id": "para_530" }, { "text": "It is unsustainable for the availability of Westfall Act", "paragraph_id": "para_531" }, { "text": "substitution to depend on whether the case ends up in the D.C. Circuit", "paragraph_id": "para_532" }, { "text": "or the Second Circuit. The panel might quibble over the details of", "paragraph_id": "para_533" }, { "text": "decisions of the D.C. Circuit and other circuits applying the Westfall", "paragraph_id": "para_534" }, { "text": "Act. But this case either would have come out differently in the D.C.", "paragraph_id": "para_535" }, { "text": "Circuit or would have come out differently in the other circuits if", "paragraph_id": "para_536" }, { "text": "President Trump had simply removed the case on the basis of", "paragraph_id": "para_537" }, { "text": "diversity before the United States moved for substitution. See", "paragraph_id": "para_538" }, { "text": "Wasserman, 557 F.3d at 639; Flohr, 84 F.3d at 388 n.4; Melo, 912 F.2d at", "paragraph_id": "para_539" }, { "text": "640 n.15. If the circuit courts would reach different outcomes on the", "paragraph_id": "para_540" }, { "text": "same facts, there is a split. I would rehear this case en banc to reach a", "paragraph_id": "para_541" }, { "text": "result that is consistent with rather than contrary to the interpretation", "paragraph_id": "para_542" }, { "text": "of the Westfall Act that prevails in the other circuits.", "paragraph_id": "para_543" }, { "text": "C", "paragraph_id": "para_544" }, { "text": "Third, the panel opinion invoked these procedural and", "paragraph_id": "para_545" }, { "text": "statutory obstacles to avoid facing the fact that the certifications of", "paragraph_id": "para_546" }, { "text": "Attorneys General Barr and Bondi were correct. When a court", "paragraph_id": "para_547" }, { "text": "13 The Eleventh Circuit has also said that § 2679(d)(1) “governs not only", "paragraph_id": "para_548" }, { "text": "actions that are ‘commenced’ in district court (under any statute giving the", "paragraph_id": "para_549" }, { "text": "court subject matter jurisdiction to hear the case) but also any case properly", "paragraph_id": "para_550" }, { "text": "removed to district court.” Flohr v. Mackovjak, 84 F.3d 386, 388 n.4 (11th Cir.", "paragraph_id": "para_551" }, { "text": "1996). It qualified the statement by saying that the removal must be “under", "paragraph_id": "para_552" }, { "text": "a removal statute other than 28 U.S.C. § 2679(d),” but that would mean", "paragraph_id": "para_553" }, { "text": "President Trump could have removed this case on the basis of diversity and", "paragraph_id": "para_554" }, { "text": "then the United States could have obtained substitution. Id.; see also Melo v.", "paragraph_id": "para_555" }, { "text": "Hafer, 912 F.2d 628, 640 n.15 (3d Cir. 1990) (allowing certification under", "paragraph_id": "para_556" }, { "text": "§ 2679(d)(1) after the employee “removed the action pursuant to other", "paragraph_id": "para_557" }, { "text": "provisions of the United States Code”).", "paragraph_id": "para_558" }, { "text": "17", "paragraph_id": "para_559" }, { "text": "considers a Westfall Act certification that a driver or doctor was acting", "paragraph_id": "para_560" }, { "text": "within the scope of federal employment, the question is whether the", "paragraph_id": "para_561" }, { "text": "driver was driving on government business or the doctor was treating", "paragraph_id": "para_562" }, { "text": "patients as part of his federal employment. It is not whether the", "paragraph_id": "para_563" }, { "text": "government employment specifically required him to hit a pedestrian", "paragraph_id": "para_564" }, { "text": "or to injure a patient. As the Westfall Act puts it, the certification is", "paragraph_id": "para_565" }, { "text": "that “the defendant employee was acting within the scope of his office", "paragraph_id": "para_566" }, { "text": "or employment at the time of the incident out of which the claim", "paragraph_id": "para_567" }, { "text": "arose.” 28 U.S.C. § 2679(d)(1)-(2). The overall conduct, not the", "paragraph_id": "para_568" }, { "text": "incident itself, must be within the scope of the office or employment.", "paragraph_id": "para_569" }, { "text": "See Ballenger, 444 F.3d at 664 (explaining that a focus on whether the", "paragraph_id": "para_570" }, { "text": "“allegedly defamatory statement itself was not conduct of the kind he", "paragraph_id": "para_571" }, { "text": "is employed to perform” reflects “a misunderstanding of D.C. scope-", "paragraph_id": "para_572" }, { "text": "of-employment law (not to mention the plain text of the Westfall Act),", "paragraph_id": "para_573" }, { "text": "which directs courts to look beyond alleged intentional torts", "paragraph_id": "para_574" }, { "text": "themselves”).14", "paragraph_id": "para_575" }, { "text": "As a result—even assuming that the conventional framework", "paragraph_id": "para_576" }, { "text": "applicable to drivers and doctors applies to the President of the", "paragraph_id": "para_577" }, { "text": "United States—the question here is whether it is within the scope of", "paragraph_id": "para_578" }, { "text": "the President’s office to issue press releases or to respond to press", "paragraph_id": "para_579" }, { "text": "inquiries. That is not a difficult question. “It is ‘incontestable’ that the", "paragraph_id": "para_580" }, { "text": "Presidency comes with the power to use the office’s ‘bully pulpit.’”", "paragraph_id": "para_581" }, { "text": "14 It would render the applicable case law incoherent to focus on whether", "paragraph_id": "para_582" }, { "text": "the allegedly tortious conduct itself was part of the employee’s duties. See,", "paragraph_id": "para_583" }, { "text": "e.g., Johnson v. Weinberg, 434 A.2d 404, 409 (D.C. 1981) (concluding that a", "paragraph_id": "para_584" }, { "text": "reasonable jury could find that a laundromat employee acted within the", "paragraph_id": "para_585" }, { "text": "scope of his employment when he shot a customer during a dispute over", "paragraph_id": "para_586" }, { "text": "missing shirts); Lyon v. Carey, 533 F.2d 649, 652 (D.C. Cir. 1976) (concluding", "paragraph_id": "para_587" }, { "text": "that a jury reasonably found that a mattress deliveryman acted within the", "paragraph_id": "para_588" }, { "text": "scope of his employment when he assaulted and raped a customer", "paragraph_id": "para_589" }, { "text": "following a delivery-related dispute).", "paragraph_id": "para_590" }, { "text": "18", "paragraph_id": "para_591" }, { "text": "Associated Press v. Budowich, No. 25-5109, 2025 WL 1649265, at *12", "paragraph_id": "para_592" }, { "text": "(D.C. Cir. June 6, 2025) (quoting Blassingame v. Trump, 87 F.4th 1, 14-", "paragraph_id": "para_593" }, { "text": "15 (D.C. Cir. 2023)). When the President engages in “public", "paragraph_id": "para_594" }, { "text": "communications,” he is discharging “official responsibilities” and", "paragraph_id": "para_595" }, { "text": "acting within the scope of his office. Trump, 603 U.S. at 629.15", "paragraph_id": "para_596" }, { "text": "The D.C. Circuit has held that “[s]peaking to the press during", "paragraph_id": "para_597" }, { "text": "regular work hours in response to a reporter’s inquiry falls within the", "paragraph_id": "para_598" }, { "text": "scope of a congressman’s ‘authorized duties.’” Ballenger, 444 F.3d", "paragraph_id": "para_599" }, { "text": "at 664. For that reason, even a statement the congressman made", "paragraph_id": "para_600" }, { "text": "during the conversation that “elaborated on the reasons why he and", "paragraph_id": "para_601" }, { "text": "his wife had separated” fell within the scope of his office. Id. at 662.", "paragraph_id": "para_602" }, { "text": "For a defamation claim based on such a remark, “the proper", "paragraph_id": "para_603" }, { "text": "defendant under the Westfall Act is the United States.” Id. at 666.", "paragraph_id": "para_604" }, { "text": "In this case, the district court rejected the notion that the", "paragraph_id": "para_605" }, { "text": "President’s remarks to the press could fall within the scope of his", "paragraph_id": "para_606" }, { "text": "office because the President does not have an employer at whose", "paragraph_id": "para_607" }, { "text": "behest he makes the remarks. See Carroll, 498 F. Supp. 3d at 449-50.", "paragraph_id": "para_608" }, { "text": "But the D.C. Circuit had no problem concluding that the", "paragraph_id": "para_609" }, { "text": "congressman’s remarks—even about his personal affairs—were", "paragraph_id": "para_610" }, { "text": "“actuated, even in part, to serve the master” because “even a partial", "paragraph_id": "para_611" }, { "text": "desire to serve the master is sufficient,” and the congressman “wanted", "paragraph_id": "para_612" }, { "text": "to maintain the continued trust and respect of his constituents in", "paragraph_id": "para_613" }, { "text": "order to preserve his ability to carry out his legislative", "paragraph_id": "para_614" }, { "text": "15 See also Wilson v. Libby, 535 F.3d 697, 712 (D.C. Cir. 2008) (explaining that", "paragraph_id": "para_615" }, { "text": "executive branch officials who “spoke to the press” to address “criticism of", "paragraph_id": "para_616" }, { "text": "the Executive’s handling of pre-war intelligence” engaged in conduct “of", "paragraph_id": "para_617" }, { "text": "the type that the defendants were employed to perform” and therefore the", "paragraph_id": "para_618" }, { "text": "conduct “was in the defendants’ scope of employment regardless of", "paragraph_id": "para_619" }, { "text": "whether it was unlawful or contrary to the national security of the United", "paragraph_id": "para_620" }, { "text": "States”).", "paragraph_id": "para_621" }, { "text": "19", "paragraph_id": "para_622" }, { "text": "responsibilities.” Ballenger, 444 F.3d at 665 (internal quotation marks", "paragraph_id": "para_623" }, { "text": "and alterations omitted). The D.C. Circuit recognized that the", "paragraph_id": "para_624" }, { "text": "congressman’s “conduct was motivated—at least in part—by a", "paragraph_id": "para_625" }, { "text": "legitimate desire to discharge his duty as a congressman.” Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_626" }, { "text": "President Trump explained that he made the remarks giving rise to", "paragraph_id": "para_627" }, { "text": "this case for similar reasons: “I just wanted to defend myself, my", "paragraph_id": "para_628" }, { "text": "family, and frankly, the presidency.” App’x 2109.", "paragraph_id": "para_629" }, { "text": "The Fifth Circuit has also decided that a congressman’s", "paragraph_id": "para_630" }, { "text": "“statements, including the alleged defamatory remarks and even", "paragraph_id": "para_631" }, { "text": "assuming such remarks are defamatory, [which] were made in the", "paragraph_id": "para_632" }, { "text": "context of an interview addressing [matters of public concern], clearly", "paragraph_id": "para_633" }, { "text": "fell within the course and scope of his position as a Member of", "paragraph_id": "para_634" }, { "text": "Congress.” Williams v. United States, 71 F.3d 502, 507 (5th Cir. 1995).", "paragraph_id": "para_635" }, { "text": "The Sixth Circuit has decided that legislators’ social media posts", "paragraph_id": "para_636" }, { "text": "describing high school students as exemplifying “blatant hate” and a", "paragraph_id": "para_637" }, { "text": "lack of “common decency” were “calculated to serve the interests of", "paragraph_id": "para_638" }, { "text": "Defendants’ constituents (i.e., employers) by informing them of", "paragraph_id": "para_639" }, { "text": "Defendants’ views.” Does 1-10 v. Haaland, 973 F.3d 591, 594, 602 (6th", "paragraph_id": "para_640" }, { "text": "Cir. 2020). And the Third Circuit has held that commissioners of the", "paragraph_id": "para_641" }, { "text": "United States Semiquincentennial Commission acted within the scope", "paragraph_id": "para_642" }, { "text": "of their employment when allegedly “engaging in a campaign of libel,", "paragraph_id": "para_643" }, { "text": "slander, and smearing” that involved statements made “in", "paragraph_id": "para_644" }, { "text": "interactions with the press.” Giordano v. Hohns, 159 F.4th 179, 183, 201", "paragraph_id": "para_645" }, { "text": "(3d Cir. 2025) (alteration omitted). Other courts have reached similar", "paragraph_id": "para_646" }, { "text": "conclusions.16 The decision in this case—regarding the President of", "paragraph_id": "para_647" }, { "text": "the United States—stands alone on the other side.", "paragraph_id": "para_648" }, { "text": "16 See Musgrave v. Mace, No. 25-1823, 2025 WL 4482991, at *2 (D.S.C. Aug.", "paragraph_id": "para_649" }, { "text": "20, 2025) (noting that the federal courts “have consistently held that", "paragraph_id": "para_650" }, { "text": "20", "paragraph_id": "para_651" }, { "text": "The Attorney General’s certification “constitute[s] prima facie", "paragraph_id": "para_652" }, { "text": "evidence that the employee was acting within the scope of his", "paragraph_id": "para_653" }, { "text": "employment,” Ballenger, 444 F.3d at 662, and a “plaintiff challenging", "paragraph_id": "para_654" }, { "text": "the government’s scope-of-employment certification bears the", "paragraph_id": "para_655" }, { "text": "burden of coming forward with specific facts rebutting the", "paragraph_id": "para_656" }, { "text": "certification,” id. (quoting Stokes v. Cross, 327 F.3d 1210, 1214 (D.C. Cir.", "paragraph_id": "para_657" }, { "text": "2003)). The plaintiff in this case cannot meet that burden.", "paragraph_id": "para_658" }, { "text": "It is strange to think that the scope of the office of President of", "paragraph_id": "para_659" }, { "text": "the United States should be decided by reference to state employment", "paragraph_id": "para_660" }, { "text": "law, and the Supreme Court may want to consider whether that is", "paragraph_id": "para_661" }, { "text": "how the Westfall Act applies to the President.17 But even under the", "paragraph_id": "para_662" }, { "text": "statements made to the press and on social media are within the scope of", "paragraph_id": "para_663" }, { "text": "employment of members of Congress” and “have reasoned that press", "paragraph_id": "para_664" }, { "text": "interviews are part of a congressperson’s job”); see also Chapman v. Rahall,", "paragraph_id": "para_665" }, { "text": "399 F. Supp. 2d 711, 715 (W.D. Va. 2005) (explaining that a congressman’s", "paragraph_id": "para_666" }, { "text": "“remarks, made to the media to ensure his effectiveness as a legislator, can", "paragraph_id": "para_667" }, { "text": "fairly and reasonably be deemed to be an ordinary and natural incident or", "paragraph_id": "para_668" }, { "text": "attribute of his job as a legislator” and “were therefore made within the", "paragraph_id": "para_669" }, { "text": "scope of his employment”) (internal quotation marks omitted); Operation", "paragraph_id": "para_670" }, { "text": "Rescue Nat’l v. United States, 975 F. Supp. 92, 108-09 (D. Mass. 1997)", "paragraph_id": "para_671" }, { "text": "(explaining that by making remarks “in response to questions posed by the", "paragraph_id": "para_672" }, { "text": "media,” a senator “was providing political leadership and a basis for voters", "paragraph_id": "para_673" }, { "text": "to judge his performance in office” and “the Westfall Act provides Senator", "paragraph_id": "para_674" }, { "text": "Kennedy immunity for his remarks”), aff’d, 147 F.3d 68 (1st Cir. 1998).", "paragraph_id": "para_675" }, { "text": "17 Cf. Trump, 603 U.S. at 639-40 (“[U]nlike anyone else, the President is a", "paragraph_id": "para_676" }, { "text": "branch of government, and the Constitution vests in him sweeping powers", "paragraph_id": "para_677" }, { "text": "and duties.”); Nixon, 457 U.S. at 756 (“Under the Constitution and laws of", "paragraph_id": "para_678" }, { "text": "the United States the President has discretionary responsibilities in a broad", "paragraph_id": "para_679" }, { "text": "variety of areas, many of them highly sensitive. In many cases it would be", "paragraph_id": "para_680" }, { "text": "difficult to determine which of the President’s innumerable ‘functions’", "paragraph_id": "para_681" }, { "text": "encompassed a particular action.”); Trump v. Vance, 591 U.S. 786, 800-01", "paragraph_id": "para_682" }, { "text": "(2020) (“[T]he Constitution guarantees ‘the entire independence of the", "paragraph_id": "para_683" }, { "text": "21", "paragraph_id": "para_684" }, { "text": "framework that applies to other government employees, the motion", "paragraph_id": "para_685" }, { "text": "of the United States for substitution should have been granted. I", "paragraph_id": "para_686" }, { "text": "would rehear the case en banc and grant the motion for substitution.", "paragraph_id": "para_687" }, { "text": "II", "paragraph_id": "para_688" }, { "text": "As noted above, the panel in this case determined that the", "paragraph_id": "para_689" }, { "text": "“clarification” of respondeat superior liability by the D.C. Court of", "paragraph_id": "para_690" }, { "text": "Appeals created a “new legal and factual record” that allowed", "paragraph_id": "para_691" }, { "text": "Attorney General Garland to submit a new certification decision in", "paragraph_id": "para_692" }, { "text": "place of the prior certification by Attorney General Barr. Carroll,", "paragraph_id": "para_693" }, { "text": "148 F.4th at 120. But when it came to the merits, the same panel", "paragraph_id": "para_694" }, { "text": "determined that the clarification of the doctrine of presidential", "paragraph_id": "para_695" }, { "text": "immunity by the Supreme Court of the United States in Trump v.", "paragraph_id": "para_696" }, { "text": "United States was so inconsequential that President Trump should not", "paragraph_id": "para_697" }, { "text": "be allowed to revisit that issue. “Trump did not announce new law", "paragraph_id": "para_698" }, { "text": "when it observed that presidential immunity is rooted in the", "paragraph_id": "para_699" }, { "text": "structural separation of powers,” the panel said. “It simply reaffirmed", "paragraph_id": "para_700" }, { "text": "long-established principles.” Carroll, 151 F.4th at 67. According to the", "paragraph_id": "para_701" }, { "text": "panel, Trump v. United States provided no intervening change in law", "paragraph_id": "para_702" }, { "text": "that would allow the President to make an argument about", "paragraph_id": "para_703" }, { "text": "presidential immunity that he could not have raised earlier. See id. So", "paragraph_id": "para_704" }, { "text": "the panel decided that it would not reconsider the issue of", "paragraph_id": "para_705" }, { "text": "presidential immunity or its prior determination that President", "paragraph_id": "para_706" }, { "text": "Trump had waived his immunity defense. See id. at 65-68.", "paragraph_id": "para_707" }, { "text": "General Government from any control by the respective States.’ As we have", "paragraph_id": "para_708" }, { "text": "often repeated, ‘States have no power to retard, impede, burden, or in any", "paragraph_id": "para_709" }, { "text": "manner control the operations of the constitutional laws enacted by", "paragraph_id": "para_710" }, { "text": "Congress.’ It follows that States also lack the power to impede the", "paragraph_id": "para_711" }, { "text": "President’s execution of those laws.”) (citations and alteration omitted)", "paragraph_id": "para_712" }, { "text": "(quoting Farmers’ & Mechanics’ Sav. Bank v. Minnesota, 232 U.S. 516,", "paragraph_id": "para_713" }, { "text": "521 (1914); McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. (4 Wheat.) 316, 436 (1819)).", "paragraph_id": "para_714" }, { "text": "22", "paragraph_id": "para_715" }, { "text": "In fact, the prior determination that President Trump waived", "paragraph_id": "para_716" }, { "text": "the defense was incorrect. But even if he had waived it, the claim that", "paragraph_id": "para_717" }, { "text": "Trump v. United States provided no meaningful clarification about the", "paragraph_id": "para_718" }, { "text": "scope of presidential immunity is wrong. If there is one thing on", "paragraph_id": "para_719" }, { "text": "which the proponents and the critics of Trump v. United States agree,", "paragraph_id": "para_720" }, { "text": "it is that the decision made a difference to the law of presidential", "paragraph_id": "para_721" }, { "text": "immunity. Another panel of our court has vacated and remanded the", "paragraph_id": "para_722" }, { "text": "decision of a district court because that court did “not appear to have", "paragraph_id": "para_723" }, { "text": "adequately considered whether Trump v. United States represented a", "paragraph_id": "para_724" }, { "text": "change in controlling law.” New York v. Trump, 158 F.4th 458, 466 (2d", "paragraph_id": "para_725" }, { "text": "Cir. 2025). At least that much should have occurred here.", "paragraph_id": "para_726" }, { "text": "A", "paragraph_id": "para_727" }, { "text": "There was no waiver of the immunity defense. President", "paragraph_id": "para_728" }, { "text": "Trump consistently raised the defense of presidential immunity", "paragraph_id": "para_729" }, { "text": "throughout this litigation. He did so in his initial answer to the", "paragraph_id": "para_730" }, { "text": "complaint,18 a motion for summary judgment,19 a motion to amend", "paragraph_id": "para_731" }, { "text": "the answer to raise presidential immunity more specifically if", "paragraph_id": "para_732" }, { "text": "18 See Answer at 11 ¶ 149, Carroll v. Trump, No. 20-CV-7311 (S.D.N.Y. Sept.", "paragraph_id": "para_733" }, { "text": "15, 2020), ECF No. 14-69 (“The alleged defamatory statements are", "paragraph_id": "para_734" }, { "text": "privileged or protected by one or more immunities … under the", "paragraph_id": "para_735" }, { "text": "Constitution of the United States.”).", "paragraph_id": "para_736" }, { "text": "19 See Memorandum in Support of Defendant’s Motion for Summary", "paragraph_id": "para_737" }, { "text": "Judgment at 3-4, Carroll v. Trump, No. 20-CV-7311 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 22, 2022),", "paragraph_id": "para_738" }, { "text": "ECF No. 109 (“It is blackletter law that a President is entitled to absolute", "paragraph_id": "para_739" }, { "text": "immunity from damages liability predicated on his official", "paragraph_id": "para_740" }, { "text": "acts. … Presidential immunity serves a vital function for the office of the", "paragraph_id": "para_741" }, { "text": "presidency.”) (internal quotation marks omitted); id. at 19 (“[I]n accordance", "paragraph_id": "para_742" }, { "text": "with long-established Supreme Court precedent, Defendant is entitled to", "paragraph_id": "para_743" }, { "text": "absolute immunity from damages liability.”) (internal quotation marks", "paragraph_id": "para_744" }, { "text": "omitted).", "paragraph_id": "para_745" }, { "text": "23", "paragraph_id": "para_746" }, { "text": "necessary,20 an answer to the amended complaint,21 and his appeal.22", "paragraph_id": "para_747" }, { "text": "The Supreme Court has explained that to the extent that legislative", "paragraph_id": "para_748" }, { "text": "immunity may be waived, “waiver can be found only after explicit", "paragraph_id": "para_749" }, { "text": "and unequivocal renunciation of the protection.” United States v.", "paragraph_id": "para_750" }, { "text": "Helstoski, 442 U.S. 477, 491 (1979). The Court emphasized that “[t]he", "paragraph_id": "para_751" }, { "text": "ordinary rules for determining the appropriate standard of waiver do", "paragraph_id": "para_752" }, { "text": "not apply” to an immunity designed “to preserve the constitutional", "paragraph_id": "para_753" }, { "text": "structure of separate, coequal, and independent branches of", "paragraph_id": "para_754" }, { "text": "government.” Id. Like legislative immunity, presidential “immunity", "paragraph_id": "para_755" }, { "text": "from damages liability predicated on his official acts” is “rooted in the", "paragraph_id": "para_756" }, { "text": "constitutional tradition of the separation of powers.” Nixon, 457 U.S.", "paragraph_id": "para_757" }, { "text": "at 749. There is no reason to conclude that the waiver of presidential", "paragraph_id": "para_758" }, { "text": "immunity may be any less explicit and unequivocal than the", "paragraph_id": "para_759" }, { "text": "legislative analogue.", "paragraph_id": "para_760" }, { "text": "In this case, however, the Second Circuit held that presidential", "paragraph_id": "para_761" }, { "text": "immunity may be waived unintentionally through inadvertence. Our", "paragraph_id": "para_762" }, { "text": "20 See Reply Memorandum of Law in Further Support of Defendant’s", "paragraph_id": "para_763" }, { "text": "Motion for Summary Judgment at 5, Carroll v. Trump, No. 20-CV-7311", "paragraph_id": "para_764" }, { "text": "(S.D.N.Y. Jan. 19, 2023), ECF No. 122 (“[S]hould this Court accept Plaintiff’s", "paragraph_id": "para_765" }, { "text": "position regarding waiver, Defendant should be permitted to assert", "paragraph_id": "para_766" }, { "text": "presidential immunity as a defense in the interest of justice.”); see also", "paragraph_id": "para_767" }, { "text": "Carroll, 680 F. Supp. 3d at 504 (“In the alternative, Mr. Trump argues that", "paragraph_id": "para_768" }, { "text": "the Court should construe his motion for summary judgment as a motion", "paragraph_id": "para_769" }, { "text": "for leave to amend his answer to resurrect the previously waived absolute", "paragraph_id": "para_770" }, { "text": "presidential immunity defense.”).", "paragraph_id": "para_771" }, { "text": "21 See Defendant’s Answer to Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint, supra", "paragraph_id": "para_772" }, { "text": "note 10, at 20-21 ¶ 1 (“[T]he alleged defamatory statements are privileged", "paragraph_id": "para_773" }, { "text": "and protected under the doctrine of presidential absolute immunity.”).", "paragraph_id": "para_774" }, { "text": "22 See Brief for Appellant at 7, Carroll v. Trump, No. 24-644 (2d Cir. Sept. 20,", "paragraph_id": "para_775" }, { "text": "2024), ECF No. 51.1 (“[T]he doctrine of absolute Presidential immunity bars", "paragraph_id": "para_776" }, { "text": "any liability.”).", "paragraph_id": "para_777" }, { "text": "24", "paragraph_id": "para_778" }, { "text": "court held that the reference to constitutional immunity in the", "paragraph_id": "para_779" }, { "text": "President’s initial answer was too general to invoke presidential", "paragraph_id": "para_780" }, { "text": "immunity, and the President “unduly delayed in raising presidential", "paragraph_id": "para_781" }, { "text": "immunity as a defense” in a more specific filing. Carroll v. Trump", "paragraph_id": "para_782" }, { "text": "(Carroll 3), 88 F.4th 418, 429-30 (2d Cir. 2023). The panel opinion", "paragraph_id": "para_783" }, { "text": "adhered to that decision on two grounds. First, the panel concluded", "paragraph_id": "para_784" }, { "text": "that there has been no “intervening change of law” on presidential", "paragraph_id": "para_785" }, { "text": "immunity. Carroll, 151 F.4th at 68. Second, the panel concluded that", "paragraph_id": "para_786" }, { "text": "“[e]ven assuming a waiver of presidential immunity must be ‘explicit", "paragraph_id": "para_787" }, { "text": "and unequivocal,’ surely Trump’s concession in Carroll 3—that if", "paragraph_id": "para_788" }, { "text": "presidential immunity were waivable, he waived it—meets this", "paragraph_id": "para_789" }, { "text": "standard.” Id. at 68 n.12.", "paragraph_id": "para_790" }, { "text": "By making that second point, the panel opinion relied on a", "paragraph_id": "para_791" }, { "text": "statement of counsel at oral argument in the Carroll 3 appeal. In", "paragraph_id": "para_792" }, { "text": "response to questioning, counsel for President Trump accepted the", "paragraph_id": "para_793" }, { "text": "counterfactual premises of the question that (1) presidential", "paragraph_id": "para_794" }, { "text": "immunity is subject to ordinary waiver rules applicable to any", "paragraph_id": "para_795" }, { "text": "defense, (2) President Trump was properly denied leave to amend his", "paragraph_id": "para_796" }, { "text": "answer to specify the defense of presidential immunity rather than", "paragraph_id": "para_797" }, { "text": "constitutional immunities generally, and (3) no amended complaint", "paragraph_id": "para_798" }, { "text": "was ever filed such that President Trump never filed a new answer in", "paragraph_id": "para_799" }, { "text": "response. Based on those premises, counsel answered that the", "paragraph_id": "para_800" }, { "text": "statement in President Trump’s initial answer might have been too", "paragraph_id": "para_801" }, { "text": "general for presidential immunity to have been “properly raised at", "paragraph_id": "para_802" }, { "text": "that point.”23 Counsel immediately added, however, that “given the", "paragraph_id": "para_803" }, { "text": "23 Oral Argument Audio Recording at 10:30, Carroll v. Trump, No. 23-1045", "paragraph_id": "para_804" }, { "text": "(2d Cir. Oct. 23, 2023).", "paragraph_id": "para_805" }, { "text": "25", "paragraph_id": "para_806" }, { "text": "filing of the amended complaint,” the defense “was properly raised”", "paragraph_id": "para_807" }, { "text": "even under ordinary waiver rules.24", "paragraph_id": "para_808" }, { "text": "That exchange during oral argument in no way established an", "paragraph_id": "para_809" }, { "text": "“explicit and unequivocal renunciation of the protection” of", "paragraph_id": "para_810" }, { "text": "presidential immunity. Helstoski, 442 U.S. at 491. The premise of the", "paragraph_id": "para_811" }, { "text": "question was that the ordinary rules allowing waiver by inadvertence", "paragraph_id": "para_812" }, { "text": "or oversight would apply in this context. But “[t]he ordinary rules for", "paragraph_id": "para_813" }, { "text": "determining the appropriate standard of waiver do not apply.” Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_814" }, { "text": "The panel in Carroll 3 did not believe that anything said at oral", "paragraph_id": "para_815" }, { "text": "argument qualified as an intentional renunciation of presidential", "paragraph_id": "para_816" }, { "text": "immunity. The Carroll 3 opinion expressly stated that “we express no", "paragraph_id": "para_817" }, { "text": "view on whether Defendant intended to relinquish his presidential", "paragraph_id": "para_818" }, { "text": "immunity defense.” Carroll 3, 88 F.4th at 422 n.1. The panel opinion in", "paragraph_id": "para_819" }, { "text": "this case erred by treating the counterfactual statement of counsel at", "paragraph_id": "para_820" }, { "text": "oral argument as an explicit and unequivocal renunciation of", "paragraph_id": "para_821" }, { "text": "presidential immunity. It was not.", "paragraph_id": "para_822" }, { "text": "B", "paragraph_id": "para_823" }, { "text": "The most glaring error of the panel opinion, however, was its", "paragraph_id": "para_824" }, { "text": "dismissal of Trump v. United States as too insignificant to justify", "paragraph_id": "para_825" }, { "text": "reconsideration of the application of presidential immunity to this", "paragraph_id": "para_826" }, { "text": "case. Everyone except for the panel in this appeal believes that Trump", "paragraph_id": "para_827" }, { "text": "v. United States materially affected the law of presidential immunity.25", "paragraph_id": "para_828" }, { "text": "24 Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_829" }, { "text": "25 See, e.g., Trump, 603 U.S. at 657 (Sotomayor, J., dissenting) (arguing that", "paragraph_id": "para_830" }, { "text": "the decision “reshapes the institution of the Presidency”); Saikrishna", "paragraph_id": "para_831" }, { "text": "Bangalore Prakash, The Fearless Executive, Crime, and the Separation of Powers,", "paragraph_id": "para_832" }, { "text": "111 Va. L. Rev. 1, 4 (2025) (explaining that “[i]n Trump v. United States, the", "paragraph_id": "para_833" }, { "text": "Supreme Court supplied some answers” to “profound questions about the", "paragraph_id": "para_834" }, { "text": "nature of our government” and effected “a bestowal of a capacious", "paragraph_id": "para_835" }, { "text": "26", "paragraph_id": "para_836" }, { "text": "By “[e]xplaining only that nothing in the Supreme Court’s opinion", "paragraph_id": "para_837" }, { "text": "affects the previous conclusion” about “the bounds of executive", "paragraph_id": "para_838" }, { "text": "authority,” the panel opinion “bypassed what we consider to be", "paragraph_id": "para_839" }, { "text": "important issues bearing on the ultimate issue” of presidential", "paragraph_id": "para_840" }, { "text": "immunity. Trump, 158 F.4th at 469 (internal quotation marks and", "paragraph_id": "para_841" }, { "text": "alterations omitted).", "paragraph_id": "para_842" }, { "text": "The Supreme Court in Trump v. United States recognized that", "paragraph_id": "para_843" }, { "text": "“only a limited number of our prior decisions guide determination of", "paragraph_id": "para_844" }, { "text": "the President’s immunity.” 603 U.S. at 610. It therefore provided", "paragraph_id": "para_845" }, { "text": "important clarifications. The President has immunity for “official", "paragraph_id": "para_846" }, { "text": "actions” but not “unofficial ones.” Id. at 617. Yet “some Presidential", "paragraph_id": "para_847" }, { "text": "conduct—for example, speaking to and on behalf of the American", "paragraph_id": "para_848" }, { "text": "people—certainly can qualify as official even when not obviously", "paragraph_id": "para_849" }, { "text": "connected to a particular constitutional or statutory provision,” so", "paragraph_id": "para_850" }, { "text": "presidential immunity “extends to the ‘outer perimeter’ of the", "paragraph_id": "para_851" }, { "text": "President’s official responsibilities, covering actions so long as they", "paragraph_id": "para_852" }, { "text": "are ‘not manifestly or palpably beyond his authority.’” Id. at 618", "paragraph_id": "para_853" }, { "text": "(citation and alteration omitted) (quoting Blassingame, 87 F.4th at 13).", "paragraph_id": "para_854" }, { "text": "immunity”); Robert Delahunty & John Yoo, The Presidential Immunity", "paragraph_id": "para_855" }, { "text": "Decision, 2024 Harv. J.L. & Pub. Pol’y Per Curiam 34, at *1 (2024) (“In Trump", "paragraph_id": "para_856" }, { "text": "v. United States, the Supreme Court issued one of the most resounding", "paragraph_id": "para_857" }, { "text": "defenses of executive power in its history.”) (footnote omitted); Shalev Gad", "paragraph_id": "para_858" }, { "text": "Roisman, Trump v. United States and the Separation of Powers,", "paragraph_id": "para_859" }, { "text": "173 U. Pa. L. Rev. Online 33, 33 (2025) (“Trump v. United States is a", "paragraph_id": "para_860" }, { "text": "blockbuster decision that has been reviled and celebrated by different", "paragraph_id": "para_861" }, { "text": "quarters of American society.”); Jack Goldsmith, The Presidency After Trump", "paragraph_id": "para_862" }, { "text": "v. United States, 2024 Sup. Ct. Rev. 1, 3 (2024) (noting “the novelty in these", "paragraph_id": "para_863" }, { "text": "rulings and their potentially very broad implications”); Akhil Reed Amar,", "paragraph_id": "para_864" }, { "text": "Something Has Gone Deeply Wrong at the Supreme Court, The Atlantic (July 2,", "paragraph_id": "para_865" }, { "text": "2024); Laurence H. Tribe, The Trump Decision Reveals Deep Rot in the System,", "paragraph_id": "para_866" }, { "text": "N.Y. Times (July 1, 2024).", "paragraph_id": "para_867" }, { "text": "27", "paragraph_id": "para_868" }, { "text": "And the immunity prevents not only liability for official acts but also", "paragraph_id": "para_869" }, { "text": "the use of evidence of official acts even when the jury is ultimately", "paragraph_id": "para_870" }, { "text": "asked to evaluate “charges that purport to be based only on his", "paragraph_id": "para_871" }, { "text": "unofficial conduct.” Id. at 631. In that way, the immunity is implicated", "paragraph_id": "para_872" }, { "text": "whenever the “President’s immune conduct” is subjected to", "paragraph_id": "para_873" }, { "text": "“examination by a jury.” Id. The government in Trump believed that", "paragraph_id": "para_874" }, { "text": "it could introduce evidence of official acts, but the Supreme Court", "paragraph_id": "para_875" }, { "text": "explained that the government’s “proposal threatens to eviscerate the", "paragraph_id": "para_876" }, { "text": "immunity we have recognized” and that “[i]t would permit a", "paragraph_id": "para_877" }, { "text": "prosecutor to do indirectly what he cannot do directly—invite the", "paragraph_id": "para_878" }, { "text": "jury to examine acts for which a President is immune.” Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_879" }, { "text": "The panel in this case decided that when “the D.C. Court of", "paragraph_id": "para_880" }, { "text": "Appeals clarified the standard for respondeat superior liability,” the", "paragraph_id": "para_881" }, { "text": "new legal landscape justified the reconsideration of earlier decisions", "paragraph_id": "para_882" }, { "text": "regarding the scope of the presidential office. Carroll, 148 F.4th at 119.", "paragraph_id": "para_883" }, { "text": "It would seem to follow from that premise that when the Supreme", "paragraph_id": "para_884" }, { "text": "Court clarified the scope of presidential immunity, the new legal", "paragraph_id": "para_885" }, { "text": "landscape likewise justified the reconsideration of earlier decisions", "paragraph_id": "para_886" }, { "text": "about the defense of presidential immunity. But the panel insisted", "paragraph_id": "para_887" }, { "text": "that it did not. See Carroll, 151 F.4th at 68 (“In the absence of any", "paragraph_id": "para_888" }, { "text": "intervening change of law on this issue, adhering to our prior decision", "paragraph_id": "para_889" }, { "text": "would not work a manifest injustice.”). That was wrong. Indeed, a", "paragraph_id": "para_890" }, { "text": "subsequent panel of our court has recognized that it was wrong. See", "paragraph_id": "para_891" }, { "text": "Trump, 158 F.4th at 466 (concluding that a district court “does not", "paragraph_id": "para_892" }, { "text": "appear to have adequately considered whether Trump v. United States", "paragraph_id": "para_893" }, { "text": "represented a change in controlling law”).26", "paragraph_id": "para_894" }, { "text": "26 The panel opinion suggested that the relevant question might be whether", "paragraph_id": "para_895" }, { "text": "Trump v. United States represented an intervening change in law on the", "paragraph_id": "para_896" }, { "text": "28", "paragraph_id": "para_897" }, { "text": "The decision in Trump v. United States makes clear that", "paragraph_id": "para_898" }, { "text": "President Trump has a serious claim that the district court conducted", "paragraph_id": "para_899" }, { "text": "the trial in this case in violation of presidential immunity. The", "paragraph_id": "para_900" }, { "text": "Supreme Court explained that “most of a President’s public", "paragraph_id": "para_901" }, { "text": "communications are likely to fall comfortably within the outer", "paragraph_id": "para_902" }, { "text": "perimeter of his official responsibilities.” Trump, 603 U.S. at 629. To", "paragraph_id": "para_903" }, { "text": "the extent that a public communication would fall outside those", "paragraph_id": "para_904" }, { "text": "responsibilities, it would be because there may “be contexts in which", "paragraph_id": "para_905" }, { "text": "specific issue of “whether presidential immunity could be waived or", "paragraph_id": "para_906" }, { "text": "forfeited.” Carroll, 151 F.4th at 66. That is not the relevant question. When", "paragraph_id": "para_907" }, { "text": "an intervening change in law alters the availability of a claim or a defense,", "paragraph_id": "para_908" }, { "text": "an earlier failure to invoke that claim or defense cannot operate as a waiver.", "paragraph_id": "para_909" }, { "text": "“[T]he mere failure to interpose such a defense prior to the announcement", "paragraph_id": "para_910" }, { "text": "of a decision which might support it cannot prevent a litigant from later", "paragraph_id": "para_911" }, { "text": "invoking such a ground” because “an effective waiver must … be one of a", "paragraph_id": "para_912" }, { "text": "‘known right or privilege.’” Curtis Pub. Co. v. Butts, 388 U.S. 130, 143 (1967)", "paragraph_id": "para_913" }, { "text": "(quoting Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464 (1938)). If Trump v. United States", "paragraph_id": "para_914" }, { "text": "authorized a broader defense of presidential immunity than was previously", "paragraph_id": "para_915" }, { "text": "available, the President cannot be said to have waived that defense by", "paragraph_id": "para_916" }, { "text": "failing to raise it before Trump v. United States was decided. Just as Trump v.", "paragraph_id": "para_917" }, { "text": "United States did not specifically address the issue of waiver, it did not", "paragraph_id": "para_918" }, { "text": "address what qualifies as “good cause” for a delay in filing a notice of", "paragraph_id": "para_919" }, { "text": "removal under 28 U.S.C. § 1455(b)(1). But our court held that a district court", "paragraph_id": "para_920" }, { "text": "did “not appear to have adequately considered whether Trump v. United", "paragraph_id": "para_921" }, { "text": "States represented a change in controlling law that could support a finding", "paragraph_id": "para_922" }, { "text": "of good cause.” Trump, 158 F.4th at 466-67. The decision in Trump v. United", "paragraph_id": "para_923" }, { "text": "States could support a finding of good cause because it altered the scope of", "paragraph_id": "para_924" }, { "text": "presidential immunity—and therefore provided broader grounds for", "paragraph_id": "para_925" }, { "text": "removal than were previously available. The principle is that a defendant", "paragraph_id": "para_926" }, { "text": "cannot be faulted for failing to raise a ground for removal that was not", "paragraph_id": "para_927" }, { "text": "previously available. In this case, the decision in Trump v. United States", "paragraph_id": "para_928" }, { "text": "provided a broader defense of presidential immunity than was previously", "paragraph_id": "para_929" }, { "text": "available, but the panel opinion faulted the President for failing to raise a", "paragraph_id": "para_930" }, { "text": "defense based on that decision before the decision was issued.", "paragraph_id": "para_931" }, { "text": "29", "paragraph_id": "para_932" }, { "text": "the President, notwithstanding the prominence of his position, speaks", "paragraph_id": "para_933" }, { "text": "in an unofficial capacity—perhaps as a candidate for office or party", "paragraph_id": "para_934" }, { "text": "leader.” Id. To distinguish those contexts, a court must engage in “the", "paragraph_id": "para_935" }, { "text": "classification of each communication” based on, for example, “who", "paragraph_id": "para_936" }, { "text": "was involved in transmitting the electronic communications” or", "paragraph_id": "para_937" }, { "text": "“what else was said contemporaneous to the excerpted", "paragraph_id": "para_938" }, { "text": "communications.” Id. at 630. This is a “fact specific” inquiry that", "paragraph_id": "para_939" }, { "text": "entails an “objective analysis of ‘content, form, and context,’” id. at", "paragraph_id": "para_940" }, { "text": "629 (quoting Snyder v. Phelps, 562 U.S. 443, 453 (2011)), and a", "paragraph_id": "para_941" }, { "text": "recognition that “there is not always a clear line between the", "paragraph_id": "para_942" }, { "text": "President’s personal and official affairs,” id. (alteration omitted)", "paragraph_id": "para_943" }, { "text": "(quoting Mazars, 591 U.S. at 868).", "paragraph_id": "para_944" }, { "text": "Neither the district court nor our court engaged in the", "paragraph_id": "para_945" }, { "text": "contextual analysis that the Supreme Court has said is required.", "paragraph_id": "para_946" }, { "text": "Instead, the district court said that a “comment about government", "paragraph_id": "para_947" }, { "text": "action, public policy, or even an election is categorically different than", "paragraph_id": "para_948" }, { "text": "a comment about an alleged sexual assault that took place roughly", "paragraph_id": "para_949" }, { "text": "twenty years before the president took office.” Carroll, 498 F. Supp. 3d", "paragraph_id": "para_950" }, { "text": "at 453. According to the district court, such a comment can never be", "paragraph_id": "para_951" }, { "text": "said in an official capacity because “President Trump’s views on the", "paragraph_id": "para_952" }, { "text": "plaintiff’s sexual assault allegation may be interesting to some, but", "paragraph_id": "para_953" }, { "text": "they reveal nothing about the operation of government.” Id. The", "paragraph_id": "para_954" }, { "text": "Supreme Court, however, has explained that the President is", "paragraph_id": "para_955" }, { "text": "“expected to comment on those matters of public concern that may", "paragraph_id": "para_956" }, { "text": "not directly implicate the activities of the Federal Government.”", "paragraph_id": "para_957" }, { "text": "Trump, 603 U.S. at 629. His “speaking to and on behalf of the", "paragraph_id": "para_958" }, { "text": "American people certainly can qualify as official even when not", "paragraph_id": "para_959" }, { "text": "obviously connected to a particular constitutional or statutory", "paragraph_id": "para_960" }, { "text": "provision,” id. at 618 (citation omitted), and “even when no specific", "paragraph_id": "para_961" }, { "text": "federal responsibility requires his communication,” id. at 627.", "paragraph_id": "para_962" }, { "text": "30", "paragraph_id": "para_963" }, { "text": "At a minimum, the President should be able to argue that the", "paragraph_id": "para_964" }, { "text": "newly clarified doctrine of presidential immunity precludes liability", "paragraph_id": "para_965" }, { "text": "in this case. The district court performed an acontextual and", "paragraph_id": "para_966" }, { "text": "unpersuasive analysis, and the Second Circuit refused even to", "paragraph_id": "para_967" }, { "text": "consider the arguments. It cannot be said that the same arguments", "paragraph_id": "para_968" }, { "text": "were previously available. Cf. In re Vivendi, S.A. Sec. Litig., 838 F.3d", "paragraph_id": "para_969" }, { "text": "223, 243 (2d Cir. 2016) (“[T]he intervening authority must have", "paragraph_id": "para_970" }, { "text": "established an argument that was ‘not known to be available’ to the", "paragraph_id": "para_971" }, { "text": "party seeking to excuse waiver at the first opportunity that the party", "paragraph_id": "para_972" }, { "text": "had to raise the argument.”) (quoting Gucci Am., Inc. v. Weixing Li, 768", "paragraph_id": "para_973" }, { "text": "F.3d 122, 135 (2d Cir. 2014)). The decision in Trump v. United States", "paragraph_id": "para_974" }, { "text": "allowed the President to argue that his “public communications” fall", "paragraph_id": "para_975" }, { "text": "“within the outer perimeter of his official responsibilities” even", "paragraph_id": "para_976" }, { "text": "“when no specific federal responsibility requires his communication.”", "paragraph_id": "para_977" }, { "text": "Trump, 603 U.S. at 627-29. And it allowed him to argue that he has a", "paragraph_id": "para_978" }, { "text": "defense of presidential immunity based on the use of evidence of such", "paragraph_id": "para_979" }, { "text": "official acts regardless of the ultimate reason for liability. 27 The", "paragraph_id": "para_980" }, { "text": "27 Compare Trump, 603 U.S. at 631 (“If official conduct for which the", "paragraph_id": "para_981" }, { "text": "President is immune may be scrutinized to help secure his conviction, even", "paragraph_id": "para_982" }, { "text": "on charges that purport to be based only on his unofficial conduct, the", "paragraph_id": "para_983" }, { "text": "intended effect of immunity would be defeated. … Use of evidence about", "paragraph_id": "para_984" }, { "text": "such conduct, even when an indictment alleges only unofficial conduct,", "paragraph_id": "para_985" }, { "text": "would thereby heighten the prospect that the President’s official", "paragraph_id": "para_986" }, { "text": "decisionmaking will be distorted.”) (internal quotation marks omitted),", "paragraph_id": "para_987" }, { "text": "with United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 709 (1974) (“[I]t is imperative to the", "paragraph_id": "para_988" }, { "text": "function of courts that compulsory process be available for the production", "paragraph_id": "para_989" }, { "text": "of evidence needed either by the prosecution or by the defense.”); Trump,", "paragraph_id": "para_990" }, { "text": "603 U.S. at 656 (Barrett, J., concurring in part) (“[T]he rules of evidence are", "paragraph_id": "para_991" }, { "text": "equipped to handle that concern on a case-by-case basis. … I see no need to", "paragraph_id": "para_992" }, { "text": "depart from that familiar and time-tested procedure here.”); id. at 681", "paragraph_id": "para_993" }, { "text": "(Sotomayor, J., dissenting) (arguing that the majority’s “draconian", "paragraph_id": "para_994" }, { "text": "31", "paragraph_id": "para_995" }, { "text": "intervening change in law that supported these arguments—not some", "paragraph_id": "para_996" }, { "text": "development in waiver doctrine—required reconsideration of the", "paragraph_id": "para_997" }, { "text": "presidential immunity defenses. See supra note 26.", "paragraph_id": "para_998" }, { "text": "President Trump raises strong arguments based on Trump v.", "paragraph_id": "para_999" }, { "text": "United States. The jury in this case imposed liability for statements", "paragraph_id": "para_1000" }, { "text": "made in a press release from the White House Press Office 28 and", "paragraph_id": "para_1001" }, { "text": "made by the President in a press briefing on the south lawn of the", "paragraph_id": "para_1002" }, { "text": "White House.29 The officials and entities involved in distributing the", "paragraph_id": "para_1003" }, { "text": "statements—as well as the context, involving direct inquiries to the", "paragraph_id": "para_1004" }, { "text": "White House and other comments on matters of public policy—", "paragraph_id": "para_1005" }, { "text": "indicate that the President was speaking in an official capacity. Even", "paragraph_id": "para_1006" }, { "text": "if he were not, the records of the statements—documents issued from", "paragraph_id": "para_1007" }, { "text": "the White House Press Office—appear to be evidence of official acts.", "paragraph_id": "para_1008" }, { "text": "At the trial, counsel for Carroll emphasized the official", "paragraph_id": "para_1009" }, { "text": "character of the statements as evidence of the harm Carroll had", "paragraph_id": "para_1010" }, { "text": "suffered. In her opening statement, counsel said that the President", "paragraph_id": "para_1011" }, { "text": "was “[s]peaking from the White House” and “used the most famous", "paragraph_id": "para_1012" }, { "text": "platform on earth to lie about what he had done.” App’x 1100. “He", "paragraph_id": "para_1013" }, { "text": "said these things from the White House. The White House, a place", "paragraph_id": "para_1014" }, { "text": "where presidents have signed laws, declared wars, decided the fate", "paragraph_id": "para_1015" }, { "text": "of the nation.” Id. In her summation, she said that the President had", "paragraph_id": "para_1016" }, { "text": "“attacked her integrity and her honesty” while “[w]ielding his", "paragraph_id": "para_1017" }, { "text": "position as president.” Id. at 1781. Carroll’s complaint alleged that", "paragraph_id": "para_1018" }, { "text": "“the most powerful man on the planet” used “that platform” of the", "paragraph_id": "para_1019" }, { "text": "presidency “to attack her integrity.” Id. at 71-72. She won summary", "paragraph_id": "para_1020" }, { "text": "approach to official-acts evidence” is “extraordinary” and “has no basis in", "paragraph_id": "para_1021" }, { "text": "law”).", "paragraph_id": "para_1022" }, { "text": "28 App’x 1887; see https://perma.cc/K8LC-TWBG.", "paragraph_id": "para_1023" }, { "text": "29 App’x 584-96; see https://perma.cc/3A8E-V97R.", "paragraph_id": "para_1024" }, { "text": "32", "paragraph_id": "para_1025" }, { "text": "judgment on the ground that the “statements, especially when issued by", "paragraph_id": "para_1026" }, { "text": "the sitting President and broadcast widely, would inevitably tend to", "paragraph_id": "para_1027" }, { "text": "expose Ms. Carroll to hatred and contempt or to induce an unsavory", "paragraph_id": "para_1028" }, { "text": "opinion of her in the minds of a substantial number of people in the", "paragraph_id": "para_1029" }, { "text": "community.”30", "paragraph_id": "para_1030" }, { "text": "These statements indicate that the jury was invited to scrutinize", "paragraph_id": "para_1031" }, { "text": "and to punish official acts of the President.31 But no court has even", "paragraph_id": "para_1032" }, { "text": "considered that question. At the very least, the President is entitled to", "paragraph_id": "para_1033" }, { "text": "have a court evaluate whether and to what extent this trial implicated", "paragraph_id": "para_1034" }, { "text": "presidential immunity as the Supreme Court elaborated the doctrine", "paragraph_id": "para_1035" }, { "text": "in Trump v. United States. The panel opinion refused to conduct any", "paragraph_id": "para_1036" }, { "text": "analysis on the application of presidential immunity. I would rehear", "paragraph_id": "para_1037" }, { "text": "the case en banc in order to do so.", "paragraph_id": "para_1038" }, { "text": "C", "paragraph_id": "para_1039" }, { "text": "The President was denied a fair trial in yet another respect. The", "paragraph_id": "para_1040" }, { "text": "district court imposed a judgment of $87 million in damages for", "paragraph_id": "para_1041" }, { "text": "allegedly defamatory statements that President Trump made to", "paragraph_id": "para_1042" }, { "text": "reporters at the White House in June 2019. But the district court", "paragraph_id": "para_1043" }, { "text": "decided that President Trump was not even entitled to a trial on", "paragraph_id": "para_1044" }, { "text": "30 Carroll v. Trump, 690 F. Supp. 3d 396, 405 (S.D.N.Y. 2023) (alteration", "paragraph_id": "para_1045" }, { "text": "omitted) (emphasis added) (quoting Memorandum of Law in Support of", "paragraph_id": "para_1046" }, { "text": "Plaintiff’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment at 17, Carroll v. Trump,", "paragraph_id": "para_1047" }, { "text": "No. 20-CV-7311 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 2, 2023), ECF No. 190).", "paragraph_id": "para_1048" }, { "text": "31 See Carroll v. Trump, 731 F. Supp. 3d 626, 634-35 (S.D.N.Y. 2024)", "paragraph_id": "para_1049" }, { "text": "(upholding the award of punitive damages because “there was evidence", "paragraph_id": "para_1050" }, { "text": "that Mr. Trump used the office of the presidency—the loudest ‘bully pulpit’", "paragraph_id": "para_1051" }, { "text": "in America and possibly the world—to issue multiple statements", "paragraph_id": "para_1052" }, { "text": "castigating Ms. Carroll” and because “[t]he jury could have found that", "paragraph_id": "para_1053" }, { "text": "Mr. Trump wielded his position as arguably the most powerful and famous", "paragraph_id": "para_1054" }, { "text": "man in the world to broadcast his lies to millions of dedicated followers”).", "paragraph_id": "para_1055" }, { "text": "33", "paragraph_id": "para_1056" }, { "text": "whether those statements were defamatory or spoken with actual", "paragraph_id": "para_1057" }, { "text": "malice. It denied him that trial because the district court had held a", "paragraph_id": "para_1058" }, { "text": "separate trial over whether different statements made via social", "paragraph_id": "para_1059" }, { "text": "media in October 2022 were defamatory and spoken with actual", "paragraph_id": "para_1060" }, { "text": "malice. Because of that other trial concerning the 2022 statements, the", "paragraph_id": "para_1061" }, { "text": "district court “ruled that Trump was barred from", "paragraph_id": "para_1062" }, { "text": "disputing … whether his June 2019 statements were false or", "paragraph_id": "para_1063" }, { "text": "defamatory, and whether he acted with actual malice in making those", "paragraph_id": "para_1064" }, { "text": "statements.” Carroll, 151 F.4th at 64. The district court instructed the", "paragraph_id": "para_1065" }, { "text": "jury that the President was guilty of defamation for the 2019", "paragraph_id": "para_1066" }, { "text": "statements and held a trial limited to how much he should be required", "paragraph_id": "para_1067" }, { "text": "to pay in damages. The jury returned a record-setting damages", "paragraph_id": "para_1068" }, { "text": "award.", "paragraph_id": "para_1069" }, { "text": "That is not how trials are supposed to work. Even putting aside", "paragraph_id": "para_1070" }, { "text": "the problems with the first trial, 32 that trial at most could have", "paragraph_id": "para_1071" }, { "text": "established that the 2022 statements were defamatory and said with", "paragraph_id": "para_1072" }, { "text": "actual malice. The district court nevertheless concluded that the", "paragraph_id": "para_1073" }, { "text": "“truth or falsity of Mr. Trump’s 2019 statements” depends “on", "paragraph_id": "para_1074" }, { "text": "whether Ms. Carroll lied about Mr. Trump sexually assaulting her,”", "paragraph_id": "para_1075" }, { "text": "so “[t]he jury’s finding that she did not therefore is binding in this", "paragraph_id": "para_1076" }, { "text": "case and precludes Mr. Trump from contesting the falsity of his 2019", "paragraph_id": "para_1077" }, { "text": "statements.” Carroll, 690 F. Supp. 3d at 406. But the jury did not make", "paragraph_id": "para_1078" }, { "text": "32 The district court in the first trial unjustifiably excluded evidence of", "paragraph_id": "para_1079" }, { "text": "President Trump’s state of mind, allowed the introduction of propensity", "paragraph_id": "para_1080" }, { "text": "evidence to establish liability, and overrode the mandate of Rule 403 to", "paragraph_id": "para_1081" }, { "text": "exclude stale witness testimony. “The result was a jury verdict based on", "paragraph_id": "para_1082" }, { "text": "impermissible character evidence and few reliable facts. No one can have", "paragraph_id": "para_1083" }, { "text": "any confidence that the jury would have returned the same verdict if the", "paragraph_id": "para_1084" }, { "text": "normal rules of evidence had been applied.” Carroll, 141 F.4th at 386", "paragraph_id": "para_1085" }, { "text": "(Menashi, J., dissenting from the denial of rehearing en banc).", "paragraph_id": "para_1086" }, { "text": "34", "paragraph_id": "para_1087" }, { "text": "that finding. The accusation to which President Trump responded in", "paragraph_id": "para_1088" }, { "text": "2019 was the publication of “an excerpt from Ms. Carroll’s then-", "paragraph_id": "para_1089" }, { "text": "forthcoming book, in which Ms. Carroll wrote that Mr. Trump raped", "paragraph_id": "para_1090" }, { "text": "her.” Carroll v. Trump, 124 F.4th 140, 151 (2d Cir. 2024). The jury in the", "paragraph_id": "para_1091" }, { "text": "first trial concluded that President Trump did not rape her. As the", "paragraph_id": "para_1092" }, { "text": "panel opinion recounts, “[t]he jury answered the first question [on the", "paragraph_id": "para_1093" }, { "text": "special verdict form]—whether Trump raped Carroll—in the", "paragraph_id": "para_1094" }, { "text": "negative.” Carroll, 151 F.4th at 70. The jury found President Trump", "paragraph_id": "para_1095" }, { "text": "liable only for sexual abuse, and both the district court and our court", "paragraph_id": "para_1096" }, { "text": "“acknowledged that the jury could conceivably have found that", "paragraph_id": "para_1097" }, { "text": "Trump sexually abused Carroll only through nonconsensual kissing", "paragraph_id": "para_1098" }, { "text": "or pulling down her tights.” Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_1099" }, { "text": "But the district court, on its own, determined “that such a", "paragraph_id": "para_1100" }, { "text": "finding would be inconsistent with the jury’s $2 million", "paragraph_id": "para_1101" }, { "text": "compensatory damages award.” Id. So the district court decided that", "paragraph_id": "para_1102" }, { "text": "“the jury implicitly found[] that Mr. Trump deliberately and forcibly", "paragraph_id": "para_1103" }, { "text": "penetrated Ms. Carroll’s vagina with his fingers.” Carroll v. Trump,", "paragraph_id": "para_1104" }, { "text": "683 F. Supp. 3d 302, 307 (S.D.N.Y. 2023) (emphasis added). In the", "paragraph_id": "para_1105" }, { "text": "second trial, therefore, “[t]he district court told the jury that it must", "paragraph_id": "para_1106" }, { "text": "accept as true that ‘Mr. Trump sexually abused Ms. Carroll by", "paragraph_id": "para_1107" }, { "text": "forcibly inserting his fingers into her vagina without her consent.’”", "paragraph_id": "para_1108" }, { "text": "Carroll, 151 F.4th at 69 (quoting App’x 1851). No jury ever made that", "paragraph_id": "para_1109" }, { "text": "finding—and, more important, a similar chain of inferences from the", "paragraph_id": "para_1110" }, { "text": "verdict could as easily lead to the conclusion that the initial jury", "paragraph_id": "para_1111" }, { "text": "determined that Carroll was not telling the truth about being raped", "paragraph_id": "para_1112" }, { "text": "because that jury determined that she was not raped.", "paragraph_id": "para_1113" }, { "text": "The panel opinion defended the decision of the district court to", "paragraph_id": "para_1114" }, { "text": "deny President Trump a trial as an application of Rule 49(a) of the", "paragraph_id": "para_1115" }, { "text": "Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. According to the panel opinion,", "paragraph_id": "para_1116" }, { "text": "because the special verdict form in the first trial “did not request the", "paragraph_id": "para_1117" }, { "text": "35", "paragraph_id": "para_1118" }, { "text": "jury to make a finding on the specific sexual conduct that he", "paragraph_id": "para_1119" }, { "text": "committed,” when following trial President Trump argued “that the", "paragraph_id": "para_1120" }, { "text": "damages were excessive because the jury could have found that he", "paragraph_id": "para_1121" }, { "text": "had engaged in less serious sexual acts, the district court made a", "paragraph_id": "para_1122" }, { "text": "finding on this issue.” Carroll, 151 F.4th at 70 (citation omitted). And", "paragraph_id": "para_1123" }, { "text": "its finding was “entitled to preclusive effect” in the second", "paragraph_id": "para_1124" }, { "text": "defamation case. Id. at 71.", "paragraph_id": "para_1125" }, { "text": "It is true that following the first trial the district court needed to", "paragraph_id": "para_1126" }, { "text": "resolve a motion for “a new trial or remittitur” based on the damages", "paragraph_id": "para_1127" }, { "text": "award. Carroll, 683 F. Supp. 3d at 324. But no court has ever given", "paragraph_id": "para_1128" }, { "text": "preclusive effect to a Rule 49(a) finding made to resolve a remittitur", "paragraph_id": "para_1129" }, { "text": "motion. That is because Rule 49(a) has no application under these", "paragraph_id": "para_1130" }, { "text": "circumstances. Rule 49(a) “was designed to have the court supply an", "paragraph_id": "para_1131" }, { "text": "omitted subsidiary finding which would complete the jury’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1132" }, { "text": "determination or verdict.” Kinnel v. Mid-Atl. Mausoleums, Inc., 850", "paragraph_id": "para_1133" }, { "text": "F.2d 958, 965 (3d Cir. 1988); see Kerman v. City of New York, 374 F.3d 93,", "paragraph_id": "para_1134" }, { "text": "120 (2d Cir. 2004) (“Rule 49 permits the trial court, in some", "paragraph_id": "para_1135" }, { "text": "circumstances, to supply an omitted finding that would complete a", "paragraph_id": "para_1136" }, { "text": "jury’s verdict.”) (emphasis added). When, for example, “no individual", "paragraph_id": "para_1137" }, { "text": "elements of a misrepresentation cause of action were specifically", "paragraph_id": "para_1138" }, { "text": "framed for the jury to answer, … the district court could ‘fill in’ those", "paragraph_id": "para_1139" }, { "text": "subsidiary elements when the jury returned a verdict” finding that", "paragraph_id": "para_1140" }, { "text": "the defendant committed misrepresentation. Kinnel, 850 F.2d at 965.", "paragraph_id": "para_1141" }, { "text": "“Subsumed within that ultimate jury finding were the five elements", "paragraph_id": "para_1142" }, { "text": "of misrepresentation … each of which could be deemed to have been", "paragraph_id": "para_1143" }, { "text": "supplied by the court in accordance with the jury’s judgment once the", "paragraph_id": "para_1144" }, { "text": "jury’s ultimate verdict was known.” Id. at 965-66.", "paragraph_id": "para_1145" }, { "text": "In this case, the district court did not make its finding to", "paragraph_id": "para_1146" }, { "text": "complete the jury’s verdict. When President Trump made the motion", "paragraph_id": "para_1147" }, { "text": "for remittitur, the verdict was already complete. No inferences were", "paragraph_id": "para_1148" }, { "text": "36", "paragraph_id": "para_1149" }, { "text": "necessary. “Remittitur is ‘the process by which a court compels a", "paragraph_id": "para_1150" }, { "text": "plaintiff to choose between reduction of an excessive verdict and a", "paragraph_id": "para_1151" }, { "text": "new trial.’” Cross v. N.Y.C. Transit Auth., 417 F.3d 241, 258 (2d Cir.", "paragraph_id": "para_1152" }, { "text": "2005) (quoting Earl v. Bouchard Transp. Co., 917 F.2d 1320, 1328 (2d Cir.", "paragraph_id": "para_1153" }, { "text": "1990)). To determine whether remittitur is appropriate, “a district", "paragraph_id": "para_1154" }, { "text": "court reviews the evidence presented at trial in support of the", "paragraph_id": "para_1155" }, { "text": "challenged damage award and compares the award to other New", "paragraph_id": "para_1156" }, { "text": "York cases in which evidence of similar injuries was presented.”", "paragraph_id": "para_1157" }, { "text": "Presley v. USPS, 317 F.3d 167, 173 (2d Cir. 2003). That involves a", "paragraph_id": "para_1158" }, { "text": "comparison of the evidentiary records in comparable cases.33 But it", "paragraph_id": "para_1159" }, { "text": "does not involve entering new factual findings on behalf of the jury", "paragraph_id": "para_1160" }, { "text": "under Rule 49(a). No such findings would be subsidiary to a jury", "paragraph_id": "para_1161" }, { "text": "verdict. And because remittitur is a question of New York state law,", "paragraph_id": "para_1162" }, { "text": "see Presley, 317 F.3d at 173 (citing N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 5501(c)), it would not", "paragraph_id": "para_1163" }, { "text": "make sense for a court to rely on a federal rule to conduct the analysis.", "paragraph_id": "para_1164" }, { "text": "In this case, no jury ever made a finding about digital", "paragraph_id": "para_1165" }, { "text": "penetration, and such a finding was not subsidiary to any verdict", "paragraph_id": "para_1166" }, { "text": "entered by any jury. Instructing one jury that it must accept a fact that", "paragraph_id": "para_1167" }, { "text": "was not necessarily decided in a previous trial—as the district court", "paragraph_id": "para_1168" }, { "text": "did here—is legally erroneous. For the purposes of issue preclusion,", "paragraph_id": "para_1169" }, { "text": "“[w]hen a fact is not necessarily determined in a former trial, the", "paragraph_id": "para_1170" }, { "text": "possibility that it may have been does not prevent re-examination of", "paragraph_id": "para_1171" }, { "text": "that issue.” United States v. Hamilton, 118 F.4th 655, 660 (5th Cir. 2024)", "paragraph_id": "para_1172" }, { "text": "(emphasis added) (quoting United States v. Brackett, 113 F.3d 1396,", "paragraph_id": "para_1173" }, { "text": "1398 (5th Cir. 1997)). The “inquiry does not focus on what the jury may", "paragraph_id": "para_1174" }, { "text": "have decided, but rather on what it must have decided.” Id. (quoting", "paragraph_id": "para_1175" }, { "text": "33 See, e.g., Nivar v. Sadler, No. 13-CV-7141, 2016 WL 3647957, at *4-6", "paragraph_id": "para_1176" }, { "text": "(S.D.N.Y. July 1, 2016); Szabo v. Rodriquez, No. 09-CV-2048, 2012 WL", "paragraph_id": "para_1177" }, { "text": "6161936, at *3-4 (E.D.N.Y. Dec. 11, 2012).", "paragraph_id": "para_1178" }, { "text": "37", "paragraph_id": "para_1179" }, { "text": "United States v. Sarabia, 661 F.3d 225, 232 (5th Cir. 2011)).34 Here, the", "paragraph_id": "para_1180" }, { "text": "district court gave preclusive effect to an issue that was neither", "paragraph_id": "para_1181" }, { "text": "actually decided by the jury nor essential to the previous judgment.", "paragraph_id": "para_1182" }, { "text": "That was an error.", "paragraph_id": "para_1183" }, { "text": "And in this case, the failure to follow the law of issue preclusion", "paragraph_id": "para_1184" }, { "text": "raises Seventh Amendment concerns. The conclusion of the district", "paragraph_id": "para_1185" }, { "text": "court about the implicit factual finding invaded the province of the", "paragraph_id": "para_1186" }, { "text": "jury. “[T]he drawing of legitimate inferences from the facts” is one of", "paragraph_id": "para_1187" }, { "text": "the “jury functions, not those of a judge.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby,", "paragraph_id": "para_1188" }, { "text": "Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255 (1986). The district court “could not itself", "paragraph_id": "para_1189" }, { "text": "determine the issues of fact … for this would cut off the plaintiff’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1190" }, { "text": "unwaived right to have the issues of fact determined by a jury.” Balt.", "paragraph_id": "para_1191" }, { "text": "& Carolina Line, Inc. v. Redman, 295 U.S. 654, 658 (1935). “While it is", "paragraph_id": "para_1192" }, { "text": "correct practice for the judge to instruct in an absolute form on an", "paragraph_id": "para_1193" }, { "text": "admitted state of the case, he is not authorized to take from the jury", "paragraph_id": "para_1194" }, { "text": "the right of weighing the evidence bearing on controverted facts.”", "paragraph_id": "para_1195" }, { "text": "Mut. Life Ins. Co. v. Snyder, 93 U.S. 393, 394-95 (1876). The district court", "paragraph_id": "para_1196" }, { "text": "here made its own inference based on a debatable record and gave it", "paragraph_id": "para_1197" }, { "text": "preclusive effect in a new proceeding. The district court thereby acted", "paragraph_id": "para_1198" }, { "text": "as the jury in addition to the judge.35", "paragraph_id": "para_1199" }, { "text": "34 See Postlewaite v. McGraw-Hill, 333 F.3d 42, 48 (2d Cir. 2003) (“[I]n order", "paragraph_id": "para_1200" }, { "text": "for a judgment to be preclusive, the issue in question must have been", "paragraph_id": "para_1201" }, { "text": "actually decided, and its determination must have been essential to the", "paragraph_id": "para_1202" }, { "text": "judgment. If an issue was not actually decided in the prior proceeding, or if", "paragraph_id": "para_1203" }, { "text": "its resolution was not necessary to the judgment, its litigation in a", "paragraph_id": "para_1204" }, { "text": "subsequent proceeding is not barred by collateral estoppel.”) (citation", "paragraph_id": "para_1205" }, { "text": "omitted).", "paragraph_id": "para_1206" }, { "text": "35 The panel opinion asserted that the truth or falsity of President Trump’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1207" }, { "text": "2019 statements “did not turn on the specific sexual act he committed.”", "paragraph_id": "para_1208" }, { "text": "Carroll, 151 F.4th at 69 n.15. Carroll accused him of rape. The first jury", "paragraph_id": "para_1209" }, { "text": "38", "paragraph_id": "para_1210" }, { "text": "D", "paragraph_id": "para_1211" }, { "text": "The ambiguous conclusion of the first jury with respect to the", "paragraph_id": "para_1212" }, { "text": "truth or falsity of Carroll’s accusation and President Trump’s denial", "paragraph_id": "para_1213" }, { "text": "was not the only problem with imposing automatic liability on", "paragraph_id": "para_1214" }, { "text": "President Trump without a trial. The district court further determined", "paragraph_id": "para_1215" }, { "text": "that “[t]he verdict in Carroll II established also that Mr. Trump’s 2019", "paragraph_id": "para_1216" }, { "text": "statements were made with actual malice.” Carroll, 690 F. Supp. 3d", "paragraph_id": "para_1217" }, { "text": "at 407.", "paragraph_id": "para_1218" }, { "text": "That makes no sense. Actual malice means that the defendant", "paragraph_id": "para_1219" }, { "text": "made the statement “with knowledge that it was false or with reckless", "paragraph_id": "para_1220" }, { "text": "disregard of whether it was false or not.” Church of Scientology Int’l v.", "paragraph_id": "para_1221" }, { "text": "Behar, 238 F.3d 168, 174 (2d Cir. 2001) (quoting New York Times Co. v.", "paragraph_id": "para_1222" }, { "text": "Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 280 (1964)). It must be established with “clear", "paragraph_id": "para_1223" }, { "text": "and convincing evidence” that “the defendant in fact entertained", "paragraph_id": "para_1224" }, { "text": "serious doubts as to the truth of his publication.” Id. Because the", "paragraph_id": "para_1225" }, { "text": "showing depends on the state of mind of the speaker at the time of", "paragraph_id": "para_1226" }, { "text": "publication, we have specifically held that “information acquired", "paragraph_id": "para_1227" }, { "text": "after the publication of defamatory material cannot be relevant to the", "paragraph_id": "para_1228" }, { "text": "publisher’s state of mind of his alleged malice at the time of", "paragraph_id": "para_1229" }, { "text": "publication.” Herbert v. Lando, 781 F.2d 298, 306 (2d Cir. 1986). In", "paragraph_id": "para_1230" }, { "text": "violation of these principles, the district court held that a", "paragraph_id": "para_1231" }, { "text": "determination that President Trump spoke with actual malice in 2022", "paragraph_id": "para_1232" }, { "text": "determined that he did not commit rape but a sexual abuse. The panel", "paragraph_id": "para_1233" }, { "text": "opinion identified these 2019 statements: “‘Shame on those who make up", "paragraph_id": "para_1234" }, { "text": "false stories of assault to try to get publicity for themselves,’ ‘I would like", "paragraph_id": "para_1235" }, { "text": "to thank Bergdorf Goodman for confirming that they have no video footage", "paragraph_id": "para_1236" }, { "text": "of any such incident, because it never happened,’ and ‘[f]alse accusations", "paragraph_id": "para_1237" }, { "text": "diminish the severity of real assault.’” Id. at 69 n.14. The truth or falsity of", "paragraph_id": "para_1238" }, { "text": "these statements turns on whether the particular accusation that Carroll", "paragraph_id": "para_1239" }, { "text": "made—of rape—was true or false.", "paragraph_id": "para_1240" }, { "text": "39", "paragraph_id": "para_1241" }, { "text": "necessarily means that he spoke with actual malice when making a", "paragraph_id": "para_1242" }, { "text": "different statement after just hearing the accusation three years", "paragraph_id": "para_1243" }, { "text": "earlier.36 It is “self-evident” that any verdict about a defendant’s state", "paragraph_id": "para_1244" }, { "text": "of mind in 2022 does not predetermine a verdict about his state of", "paragraph_id": "para_1245" }, { "text": "mind three years earlier. Herbert, 781 F.2d at 306.", "paragraph_id": "para_1246" }, { "text": "The panel opinion did not even attempt to defend the decision", "paragraph_id": "para_1247" }, { "text": "of the district court. The panel opinion instead endorsed “the district", "paragraph_id": "para_1248" }, { "text": "court’s alternative holding that Carroll satisfied her burden at", "paragraph_id": "para_1249" }, { "text": "summary judgment on the element of actual malice.” Carroll, 151 F.4th", "paragraph_id": "para_1250" }, { "text": "at 71. But the reasoning of the panel opinion on this point was no more", "paragraph_id": "para_1251" }, { "text": "defensible. The panel opinion held that President Trump “acted with,", "paragraph_id": "para_1252" }, { "text": "at a minimum, reckless disregard for the truth” because he did not", "paragraph_id": "para_1253" }, { "text": "undertake an independent investigation of Carroll’s accusations", "paragraph_id": "para_1254" }, { "text": "before issuing a denial:", "paragraph_id": "para_1255" }, { "text": "In his deposition testimony, Trump admitted that prior", "paragraph_id": "para_1256" }, { "text": "to making his 2019 statements, he never read Carroll’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1257" }, { "text": "book or the New York magazine publication, never", "paragraph_id": "para_1258" }, { "text": "contacted Bergdorf Goodman’s, never did any research", "paragraph_id": "para_1259" }, { "text": "on Carroll, and never had anyone working for him", "paragraph_id": "para_1260" }, { "text": "research Carroll. He also admitted that, before issuing his", "paragraph_id": "para_1261" }, { "text": "2019 statements, he had no knowledge of Carroll’s book", "paragraph_id": "para_1262" }, { "text": "deal, financial circumstances, or political affiliation.", "paragraph_id": "para_1263" }, { "text": "Id. at 71-72. None of that established actual malice. “The reckless", "paragraph_id": "para_1264" }, { "text": "conduct needed to show actual malice ‘is not measured by whether a", "paragraph_id": "para_1265" }, { "text": "reasonably prudent man would have published, or would have", "paragraph_id": "para_1266" }, { "text": "36 See Carroll, 690 F. Supp. 3d at 408 (“Accordingly, as Ms. Carroll argues,", "paragraph_id": "para_1267" }, { "text": "‘no reasonable person could believe that Mr. Trump acted with actual", "paragraph_id": "para_1268" }, { "text": "malice in October 2022, but lacked it in June 2019.’”) (alterations omitted)", "paragraph_id": "para_1269" }, { "text": "(quoting Memorandum of Law in Support of Plaintiff’s Motion for Partial", "paragraph_id": "para_1270" }, { "text": "Summary Judgment, supra note 30, at 20).", "paragraph_id": "para_1271" }, { "text": "40", "paragraph_id": "para_1272" }, { "text": "investigated before publishing,’ but by whether there is sufficient", "paragraph_id": "para_1273" }, { "text": "evidence ‘to permit the conclusion that the defendant in fact", "paragraph_id": "para_1274" }, { "text": "entertained serious doubts as to the truth of his publication.’” Church", "paragraph_id": "para_1275" }, { "text": "of Scientology, 238 F.3d at 174 (quoting St. Amant v. Thompson, 390 U.S.", "paragraph_id": "para_1276" }, { "text": "727, 731 (1968)). President Trump was not required to read Carroll’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1277" }, { "text": "book before speaking in order to avoid liability for defamation.", "paragraph_id": "para_1278" }, { "text": "Carroll instead was required to identify clear and convincing", "paragraph_id": "para_1279" }, { "text": "evidence that President Trump spoke without subjectively “believing", "paragraph_id": "para_1280" }, { "text": "the truth of the publication.” Karedes v. Ackerley Grp., Inc., 423 F.3d", "paragraph_id": "para_1281" }, { "text": "107, 114 (2d Cir. 2005) (quoting Sack on Defamation: Libel, Slander,", "paragraph_id": "para_1282" }, { "text": "and Related Problems § 5.5.1.1 (3d ed. 2005)).", "paragraph_id": "para_1283" }, { "text": "In every other defamation case, the actual malice standard", "paragraph_id": "para_1284" }, { "text": "raises “the plaintiff’s burden of proof to an almost impossible level.”", "paragraph_id": "para_1285" }, { "text": "Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc., 472 U.S. 749, 771", "paragraph_id": "para_1286" }, { "text": "(1985) (White, J., concurring in the judgment). In the first trial against", "paragraph_id": "para_1287" }, { "text": "President Trump, however, “the district court excluded evidence of", "paragraph_id": "para_1288" }, { "text": "the defendant’s contemporaneous state of mind, ensuring that the", "paragraph_id": "para_1289" }, { "text": "plaintiff easily met the actual malice standard.” Carroll, 141 F.4th", "paragraph_id": "para_1290" }, { "text": "at 368 (Menashi, J., dissenting from the denial of rehearing en banc).", "paragraph_id": "para_1291" }, { "text": "In this case, the district court went even further—imposing liability", "paragraph_id": "para_1292" }, { "text": "for actual malice without any evidence or any trial at all. It was not a", "paragraph_id": "para_1293" }, { "text": "fair judicial proceeding.", "paragraph_id": "para_1294" }, { "text": "E", "paragraph_id": "para_1295" }, { "text": "On top of the errors already discussed, the panel opinion", "paragraph_id": "para_1296" }, { "text": "upheld an unlawful and grossly excessive award of damages. The", "paragraph_id": "para_1297" }, { "text": "damages award in this case included (1) damages that were", "paragraph_id": "para_1298" }, { "text": "unauthorized under New York law, (2) compensatory damages that", "paragraph_id": "para_1299" }, { "text": "were duplicative, and (3) an overall award that was record-", "paragraph_id": "para_1300" }, { "text": "breakingly excessive.", "paragraph_id": "para_1301" }, { "text": "41", "paragraph_id": "para_1302" }, { "text": "1", "paragraph_id": "para_1303" }, { "text": "In New York, a showing of actual malice “is insufficient by", "paragraph_id": "para_1304" }, { "text": "itself to justify an award of punitive damages, because that malice", "paragraph_id": "para_1305" }, { "text": "focuses on the defendant’s state of mind in relation to the truth or", "paragraph_id": "para_1306" }, { "text": "falsity of the published information.” Prozeralik v. Cap. Cities", "paragraph_id": "para_1307" }, { "text": "Commc’ns, Inc., 82 N.Y.2d 466, 479 (1993). The “common-law malice”", "paragraph_id": "para_1308" }, { "text": "that “would allow an award of punitive damages” involves “the", "paragraph_id": "para_1309" }, { "text": "defendant’s mental state in relation to the plaintiff and the motive in", "paragraph_id": "para_1310" }, { "text": "publishing the falsity.” Id. at 479-80. For an award of punitive", "paragraph_id": "para_1311" }, { "text": "damages, the plaintiff must establish that the statements were made", "paragraph_id": "para_1312" }, { "text": "with common-law malice so that those damages serve “to punish a", "paragraph_id": "para_1313" }, { "text": "person for outrageous conduct which is malicious, wanton, reckless,", "paragraph_id": "para_1314" }, { "text": "or in willful disregard for another’s rights.” Id. at 479-80 (quoting", "paragraph_id": "para_1315" }, { "text": "Vassiliades v. Garfinckel’s, 492 A.2d 580, 593 (D.C. 1985)).", "paragraph_id": "para_1316" }, { "text": "In this case, “the district court instructed the jury that ‘[a]", "paragraph_id": "para_1317" }, { "text": "statement is made maliciously … if it is made with a deliberate intent", "paragraph_id": "para_1318" }, { "text": "to injure or out of hatred, ill will or spite, or in willful, wanton, or", "paragraph_id": "para_1319" }, { "text": "reckless disregard of another’s rights.’” Carroll, 151 F.4th at 77", "paragraph_id": "para_1320" }, { "text": "(quoting App’x 1857). President Trump requested that the jury be", "paragraph_id": "para_1321" }, { "text": "instructed that, to award punitive damages, the malicious intent to", "paragraph_id": "para_1322" }, { "text": "injure must be the speaker’s sole motivation. The district court", "paragraph_id": "para_1323" }, { "text": "rejected that request,37 and the panel opinion held that it was right to", "paragraph_id": "para_1324" }, { "text": "do so. According to the panel opinion, the New York courts impose a", "paragraph_id": "para_1325" }, { "text": "requirement that “common law malice must be ‘the one and only", "paragraph_id": "para_1326" }, { "text": "37 See Carroll, 731 F. Supp. 3d at 631 (“[T]he persuasive evidence is that New", "paragraph_id": "para_1327" }, { "text": "York’s highest court would reject defendant’s contention that the Court", "paragraph_id": "para_1328" }, { "text": "should have instructed the jury that it could award punitive damages only", "paragraph_id": "para_1329" }, { "text": "if it found that Mr. Trump was motivated solely by a desire to injure", "paragraph_id": "para_1330" }, { "text": "Ms. Carroll.”).", "paragraph_id": "para_1331" }, { "text": "42", "paragraph_id": "para_1332" }, { "text": "cause for the publication’” only “to overcome a conditional or", "paragraph_id": "para_1333" }, { "text": "qualified privilege against a defamation suit.” Carroll, 151 F.4th at 75-", "paragraph_id": "para_1334" }, { "text": "76 (quoting Liberman v. Gelstein, 80 N.Y.2d 429, 439 (1992)).", "paragraph_id": "para_1335" }, { "text": "President Trump’s position has support in the case law,38 and", "paragraph_id": "para_1336" }, { "text": "in any event the panel opinion was wrong that no qualified privilege", "paragraph_id": "para_1337" }, { "text": "applied in this case. When a speaker defends himself against an", "paragraph_id": "para_1338" }, { "text": "accusation of wrongful conduct, a qualified privilege arises that", "paragraph_id": "para_1339" }, { "text": "allows liability for defamation “only if a jury could reasonably", "paragraph_id": "para_1340" }, { "text": "conclude that ‘malice was the one and only cause for the", "paragraph_id": "para_1341" }, { "text": "publication.’” Liberman, 80 N.Y.2d at 439 (quoting Stukuls v. New York,", "paragraph_id": "para_1342" }, { "text": "42 N.Y.2d 272, 282 (1977)). As President Trump explained to the", "paragraph_id": "para_1343" }, { "text": "district court, “in these types of circumstances, New York courts have", "paragraph_id": "para_1344" }, { "text": "recognized a qualified privilege of reply when accused of charges of", "paragraph_id": "para_1345" }, { "text": "unlawful activity.”39 That is correct: “New York courts recognize a", "paragraph_id": "para_1346" }, { "text": "qualified privilege of reply” based on the speaker’s “right to defend", "paragraph_id": "para_1347" }, { "text": "himself” from accusations of wrongful conduct. Giuffre v. Dershowitz,", "paragraph_id": "para_1348" }, { "text": "38 See, e.g., Morsette v. The Final Call, 309 A.D.2d 249, 256 (1st Dep’t 2003)", "paragraph_id": "para_1349" }, { "text": "(“[A] triable issue of common-law malice is raised only if a reasonable jury", "paragraph_id": "para_1350" }, { "text": "could find that the speaker was solely motivated by a desire to injure", "paragraph_id": "para_1351" }, { "text": "plaintiff, and … there must be some evidence that the animus was the one", "paragraph_id": "para_1352" }, { "text": "and only cause for the publication.”) (internal quotation marks omitted);", "paragraph_id": "para_1353" }, { "text": "Verdi v. Dinowitz, 204 A.D.3d 627, 627 (1st Dep’t 2022) (“The pleadings", "paragraph_id": "para_1354" }, { "text": "allege that the defamatory statements were made with political and racial", "paragraph_id": "para_1355" }, { "text": "motivations, as well as a desire to shift blame, rather than, as required for", "paragraph_id": "para_1356" }, { "text": "punitive damages in a defamation claim, that defendant was motivated", "paragraph_id": "para_1357" }, { "text": "solely by malice.”).", "paragraph_id": "para_1358" }, { "text": "39 Memorandum of Law in Support of Defendant’s Motion for Summary", "paragraph_id": "para_1359" }, { "text": "Judgment at 34, Carroll v. Trump, No. 20-CV-7311, 2022 WL 21889346", "paragraph_id": "para_1360" }, { "text": "(S.D.N.Y. Dec. 22, 2022), ECF No. 109 (citing Kane v. Orange Cnty. Pubs., 232", "paragraph_id": "para_1361" }, { "text": "A.D.2d 526, 527 (2d Dep’t 1996)).", "paragraph_id": "para_1362" }, { "text": "43", "paragraph_id": "para_1363" }, { "text": "410 F. Supp. 3d 564, 574 (S.D.N.Y. 2019). One of our colleagues has", "paragraph_id": "para_1364" }, { "text": "explained the privilege this way:", "paragraph_id": "para_1365" }, { "text": "[A] person also has a right to defend himself or herself", "paragraph_id": "para_1366" }, { "text": "from charges of unlawful activity. An individual is", "paragraph_id": "para_1367" }, { "text": "privileged to publish defamatory matter in response to", "paragraph_id": "para_1368" }, { "text": "an attack upon his or her reputation; the speaker is given", "paragraph_id": "para_1369" }, { "text": "more latitude in such a situation than if the statements", "paragraph_id": "para_1370" }, { "text": "were not provoked.", "paragraph_id": "para_1371" }, { "text": "Id. (alteration omitted) (quoting Sack on Defamation: Libel, Slander,", "paragraph_id": "para_1372" }, { "text": "and Related Problems § 9.2.1 (5th ed. 2017)). And the Second", "paragraph_id": "para_1373" }, { "text": "Restatement of Torts puts it this way:", "paragraph_id": "para_1374" }, { "text": "A conditional privilege exists … when the person", "paragraph_id": "para_1375" }, { "text": "making the publication reasonably believes that his", "paragraph_id": "para_1376" }, { "text": "interest in his own reputation has been unlawfully", "paragraph_id": "para_1377" }, { "text": "invaded by another person and that the defamatory", "paragraph_id": "para_1378" }, { "text": "matter that he publishes about the other is reasonably", "paragraph_id": "para_1379" }, { "text": "necessary to defend himself. … Thus the defendant may", "paragraph_id": "para_1380" }, { "text": "publish in an appropriate manner anything that he", "paragraph_id": "para_1381" }, { "text": "reasonably believes to be necessary to defend his own", "paragraph_id": "para_1382" }, { "text": "reputation against the defamation of another, including", "paragraph_id": "para_1383" }, { "text": "the statement that his accuser is an unmitigated liar.", "paragraph_id": "para_1384" }, { "text": "Restatement (Second) of Torts § 594 cmt. k (1977). The “general rule”", "paragraph_id": "para_1385" }, { "text": "in New York is that a defamation defendant “had the right to repel", "paragraph_id": "para_1386" }, { "text": "the attack upon it and to retort upon its assailant, in case such retort", "paragraph_id": "para_1387" }, { "text": "was a necessary part of its defense or fairly arose out of the charges", "paragraph_id": "para_1388" }, { "text": "made against it.” Collier v. Postum Cereal Co., 150 A.D. 169, 178 (1st", "paragraph_id": "para_1389" }, { "text": "Dep’t 1912). The privilege of “reply to defamatory attack” is", "paragraph_id": "para_1390" }, { "text": "“available to one who has been defamed in the first instance, and", "paragraph_id": "para_1391" }, { "text": "who, in response to the attack, responds in kind.” Shenkman v.", "paragraph_id": "para_1392" }, { "text": "O’Malley, 2 A.D.2d 567, 574 (1st Dep’t 1956). The privilege means that", "paragraph_id": "para_1393" }, { "text": "“[t]he defendant plainly had the right to characterize the plaintiff’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1394" }, { "text": "44", "paragraph_id": "para_1395" }, { "text": "charges as false, and mere vehemence, even exaggerated statement,", "paragraph_id": "para_1396" }, { "text": "will not as matter of law destroy the privilege or necessarily present", "paragraph_id": "para_1397" }, { "text": "a question of fact.” Collier, 150 A.D. at 178. The privilege also entails", "paragraph_id": "para_1398" }, { "text": "“the right to impugn the motives of its assailant,” id., because the", "paragraph_id": "para_1399" }, { "text": "accuser has placed those motives at issue.40", "paragraph_id": "para_1400" }, { "text": "The qualified privilege of reply is well-established. 41 In this", "paragraph_id": "para_1401" }, { "text": "case, President Trump responded to an accusation that he committed", "paragraph_id": "para_1402" }, { "text": "rape by denying the charge, by stating “that his accuser is an", "paragraph_id": "para_1403" }, { "text": "unmitigated liar,” Restatement (Second) of Torts § 594 cmt. k, and by", "paragraph_id": "para_1404" }, { "text": "“impugn[ing] the motives of [his] assailant,” Collier, 150 A.D. at 178.", "paragraph_id": "para_1405" }, { "text": "40 See Shenkman, 2 A.D.2d at 574 (“One who makes a public attack upon", "paragraph_id": "para_1406" }, { "text": "another subjects his own motives to discussion. It is a contradiction in terms", "paragraph_id": "para_1407" }, { "text": "to say that the one attacked is privileged only to speak the truth and not to", "paragraph_id": "para_1408" }, { "text": "make a counterattack, or that legitimate self-defense consists only in a", "paragraph_id": "para_1409" }, { "text": "denial of the charge or a statement of what is claimed to be the truth", "paragraph_id": "para_1410" }, { "text": "respecting its subject-matter. One in self-defense is not confined to parrying", "paragraph_id": "para_1411" }, { "text": "the thrusts of his assailant. Of course, the counterattack must not be", "paragraph_id": "para_1412" }, { "text": "unrelated to the charge, but surely the motives of the one making it are", "paragraph_id": "para_1413" }, { "text": "pertinent.”) (quoting Collier, 150 A.D. at 178).", "paragraph_id": "para_1414" }, { "text": "41 See Kane, 232 A.D.2d at 527 (“[S]ince the open letter was the funeral", "paragraph_id": "para_1415" }, { "text": "director’s response to unfavorable publicity against him—publicity", "paragraph_id": "para_1416" }, { "text": "concededly generated ‘with the cooperation of plaintiffs’—it was covered", "paragraph_id": "para_1417" }, { "text": "by a qualified privilege.”); Fowler v. New York Herald Co., 184 A.D. 608, 611", "paragraph_id": "para_1418" }, { "text": "(1st Dep’t 1918) (explaining that when “he was denounced by the plaintiff", "paragraph_id": "para_1419" }, { "text": "publicly as an imposter, the defendant’s natural course” was to mount a", "paragraph_id": "para_1420" }, { "text": "defense “even if such defense called forth a revelation or explanation of the", "paragraph_id": "para_1421" }, { "text": "infirmities or peculiarities of the plaintiff” and that “[t]he defendant had a", "paragraph_id": "para_1422" }, { "text": "qualified privilege so to do”); see also Phifer v. Foe, 443 P.2d 870, 871 (Wyo.", "paragraph_id": "para_1423" }, { "text": "1968) (“After an attack on a defendant by a plaintiff, defendant has a right", "paragraph_id": "para_1424" }, { "text": "to defend himself against plaintiff’s charges, even if he defames the plaintiff", "paragraph_id": "para_1425" }, { "text": "in so doing.”); J.A. Bryant, Libel and Slander: Qualified Privilege of Reply to", "paragraph_id": "para_1426" }, { "text": "Defamatory Publication, 41 A.L.R.3d 1083 (Originally published in 1972).", "paragraph_id": "para_1427" }, { "text": "45", "paragraph_id": "para_1428" }, { "text": "Even putting aside presidential immunity,42 that was a qualifiedly", "paragraph_id": "para_1429" }, { "text": "privileged communication.43", "paragraph_id": "para_1430" }, { "text": "The district court rejected the application of the privilege of", "paragraph_id": "para_1431" }, { "text": "reply on the ground that “any such claim of a qualified", "paragraph_id": "para_1432" }, { "text": "privilege … depends on weighing the evidence of Mr. Trump’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1433" }, { "text": "motives for making the allegedly defamatory statements.” Carroll v.", "paragraph_id": "para_1434" }, { "text": "Trump, 680 F. Supp. 3d 491, 516 n.103 (S.D.N.Y. 2023). That was", "paragraph_id": "para_1435" }, { "text": "wrong. Once the qualified privilege attaches, the question of whether", "paragraph_id": "para_1436" }, { "text": "the defendant exceeded the privilege is submitted to the jury:", "paragraph_id": "para_1437" }, { "text": "“Whether the defendant in its publication went beyond its legal privilege", "paragraph_id": "para_1438" }, { "text": "and should be charged with malice was a question of fact for the jury,", "paragraph_id": "para_1439" }, { "text": "both in determining defendant’s liability and also in determining the", "paragraph_id": "para_1440" }, { "text": "amount of punitive damages which should be awarded in case", "paragraph_id": "para_1441" }, { "text": "liability were found.” Fowler, 184 A.D. at 611 (emphasis added).44", "paragraph_id": "para_1442" }, { "text": "The panel opinion held that the district court did not need to", "paragraph_id": "para_1443" }, { "text": "instruct the jury that common-law malice must have been the sole", "paragraph_id": "para_1444" }, { "text": "reason for the allegedly defamatory statement. But that is how the jury", "paragraph_id": "para_1445" }, { "text": "must determine whether the defendant exceeded the privilege. As the", "paragraph_id": "para_1446" }, { "text": "panel opinion explained, “if ‘the defendant’s statements were made", "paragraph_id": "para_1447" }, { "text": "to further the interest protected by the privilege,’ it does not matter if", "paragraph_id": "para_1448" }, { "text": "42 See Restatement (Second) of Torts § 591 cmts. a-b.", "paragraph_id": "para_1449" }, { "text": "43 See id. § 594 cmt. k.", "paragraph_id": "para_1450" }, { "text": "44 See also Mencher v. Chesley, 193 Misc. 829, 832 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1948)", "paragraph_id": "para_1451" }, { "text": "(“Plaintiff contends … that the defendant in any event went beyond his", "paragraph_id": "para_1452" }, { "text": "legal privilege in repelling the attack and that consequently his privilege", "paragraph_id": "para_1453" }, { "text": "affords him no protection. The court does not agree with plaintiff’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1454" }, { "text": "contention. It seems that the reply made by the defendant was relevant to", "paragraph_id": "para_1455" }, { "text": "the issues made by plaintiff, and that the question whether the defendant", "paragraph_id": "para_1456" }, { "text": "went beyond his privilege is one of fact for the jury to determine, and that", "paragraph_id": "para_1457" }, { "text": "it cannot be disposed of as a matter of law.”).", "paragraph_id": "para_1458" }, { "text": "46", "paragraph_id": "para_1459" }, { "text": "the ‘defendant also despised plaintiff.’” Carroll, 151 F.4th at 76", "paragraph_id": "para_1460" }, { "text": "(quoting Liberman, 80 N.Y.2d at 439). It stands to reason that a speaker", "paragraph_id": "para_1461" }, { "text": "would have animosity toward someone who accused him of criminal", "paragraph_id": "para_1462" }, { "text": "wrongdoing.", "paragraph_id": "para_1463" }, { "text": "Because the jury was not instructed that it needed to “conclude", "paragraph_id": "para_1464" }, { "text": "that malice was the one and only cause for the publication,” Liberman,", "paragraph_id": "para_1465" }, { "text": "80 N.Y.2d at 439 (internal quotation marks omitted), the jury", "paragraph_id": "para_1466" }, { "text": "instructions were erroneous and the award of damages—especially", "paragraph_id": "para_1467" }, { "text": "the punitive damages award—was improper.45", "paragraph_id": "para_1468" }, { "text": "2", "paragraph_id": "para_1469" }, { "text": "In addition to the unauthorized damages, this case involved a", "paragraph_id": "para_1470" }, { "text": "duplicative compensatory damages award. The jury was instructed", "paragraph_id": "para_1471" }, { "text": "that it should calculate compensatory damages in two steps. “First, it", "paragraph_id": "para_1472" }, { "text": "was asked to assign a dollar amount to the ‘damages attributable to", "paragraph_id": "para_1473" }, { "text": "the June 21 and 22 statements,’” excluding something called “the", "paragraph_id": "para_1474" }, { "text": "reputation repair program.” Carroll, 151 F.4th at 79 (emphasis", "paragraph_id": "para_1475" }, { "text": "omitted) (quoting App’x 1856). “Second, it was asked to fill in the", "paragraph_id": "para_1476" }, { "text": "amount of damages, if any, that it awarded ‘for the reputation repair", "paragraph_id": "para_1477" }, { "text": "program.’” Id. (emphasis omitted) (quoting App’x 1856). “The jury", "paragraph_id": "para_1478" }, { "text": "awarded Carroll $7.3 million in compensatory damages other than for", "paragraph_id": "para_1479" }, { "text": "the reputation repair program and $11 million for the reputation", "paragraph_id": "para_1480" }, { "text": "program itself.” Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_1481" }, { "text": "In other words, the jury awarded compensatory damages both", "paragraph_id": "para_1482" }, { "text": "for the cost attributable to the harm and for the cost of repairing the", "paragraph_id": "para_1483" }, { "text": "harm and thereby making the plaintiff whole. The panel opinion held", "paragraph_id": "para_1484" }, { "text": "that this was permissible because “there is a difference between the", "paragraph_id": "para_1485" }, { "text": "45 Nor was the privilege defeated by a showing of actual malice. See supra", "paragraph_id": "para_1486" }, { "text": "Part II.D.", "paragraph_id": "para_1487" }, { "text": "47", "paragraph_id": "para_1488" }, { "text": "costs required to repair an individual’s reputation and the costs", "paragraph_id": "para_1489" }, { "text": "arising from the damaged reputation itself.” Id. at 81.", "paragraph_id": "para_1490" }, { "text": "No, there is not. These are two ways of measuring the same", "paragraph_id": "para_1491" }, { "text": "harm. It is well-established throughout the law that “compensatory", "paragraph_id": "para_1492" }, { "text": "damages may be measured by either (1) cost of repair or", "paragraph_id": "para_1493" }, { "text": "(2) diminution in value.” Lichtefeld v. Mactec Eng’g & Consulting, Inc.,", "paragraph_id": "para_1494" }, { "text": "239 F. App’x 97, 102 (6th Cir. 2007) (emphasis added).46 It cannot be", "paragraph_id": "para_1495" }, { "text": "both. “A basic principle of compensatory damages is that an injury", "paragraph_id": "para_1496" }, { "text": "can be compensated only once.” Bender v. City of New York, 78 F.3d", "paragraph_id": "para_1497" }, { "text": "787, 793 (2d Cir. 1996).", "paragraph_id": "para_1498" }, { "text": "The district court believed that the jury awarded “$11 million", "paragraph_id": "para_1499" }, { "text": "in reputational and $7.3 million in non-reputational compensatory", "paragraph_id": "para_1500" }, { "text": "damages.” Carroll, 731 F. Supp. 3d at 634 (emphasis added). But that", "paragraph_id": "para_1501" }, { "text": "46 See, e.g., Scribner v. Summers, 138 F.3d 471, 472 (2d Cir. 1998) (“Under New", "paragraph_id": "para_1502" }, { "text": "York law, ‘the proper measure of damages for permanent injury to real", "paragraph_id": "para_1503" }, { "text": "property is the lesser of the decline in market value and the cost of", "paragraph_id": "para_1504" }, { "text": "restoration.’”) (quoting Jenkins v. Etlinger, 55 N.Y.2d 35, 39 (1982)); Rainbow", "paragraph_id": "para_1505" }, { "text": "Travel Serv., Inc. v. Hilton Hotels Corp., 896 F.2d 1233, 1242-43 (10th Cir. 1990)", "paragraph_id": "para_1506" }, { "text": "(“Awarding [the plaintiff] both the full extent of injury to its good will,", "paragraph_id": "para_1507" }, { "text": "however, and the means to repair that damage amounts to a double", "paragraph_id": "para_1508" }, { "text": "recovery.”); Ostano Commerzanstalt v. Telewide Sys., Inc., 880 F.2d 642, 649", "paragraph_id": "para_1509" }, { "text": "(2d Cir. 1989) (“[T]he plaintiffs cannot recover both benefit-of-the-bargain", "paragraph_id": "para_1510" }, { "text": "damages for breach of contract and warranty and out-of-pocket expenses", "paragraph_id": "para_1511" }, { "text": "for fraud. Such a double recovery would put them in a better position than", "paragraph_id": "para_1512" }, { "text": "they would have been in had the contract been satisfactorily performed.”);", "paragraph_id": "para_1513" }, { "text": "O’Brien Bros. v. The Helen B. Moran, 160 F.2d 502, 505 (2d Cir. 1947) (“The", "paragraph_id": "para_1514" }, { "text": "damages sustained by an automobile in a collision may be established by", "paragraph_id": "para_1515" }, { "text": "showing the reasonable cost of the repairs necessary to restore it to its", "paragraph_id": "para_1516" }, { "text": "former condition, although the general rule is that the measure of damages", "paragraph_id": "para_1517" }, { "text": "to personal property is the difference between its market value immediately", "paragraph_id": "para_1518" }, { "text": "before and immediately after the injury.”) (quoting Gass v. Agate Ice Cream,", "paragraph_id": "para_1519" }, { "text": "Inc., 264 N.Y. 141, 143 (1934)).", "paragraph_id": "para_1520" }, { "text": "48", "paragraph_id": "para_1521" }, { "text": "led to President Trump’s argument that “the $7.3 million award was", "paragraph_id": "para_1522" }, { "text": "limited to emotional distress damages.” Carroll, 151 F.4th at 80. The", "paragraph_id": "para_1523" }, { "text": "panel opinion rejected that argument on the ground that the $7.3", "paragraph_id": "para_1524" }, { "text": "million provided compensation for “other reputational harms—such", "paragraph_id": "para_1525" }, { "text": "as the loss of Carroll’s career at Elle, the reduction in freelance work,", "paragraph_id": "para_1526" }, { "text": "and the cost of increased security measures.” Id. But the “reputation", "paragraph_id": "para_1527" }, { "text": "repair program” was expressly designed to compensate Carroll for", "paragraph_id": "para_1528" }, { "text": "those harms. The expert report providing the basis for the program", "paragraph_id": "para_1529" }, { "text": "describes her career at Elle,47 her freelance work,48 and the harms to", "paragraph_id": "para_1530" }, { "text": "those interests. 49 The expert testified that the “reputation repair", "paragraph_id": "para_1531" }, { "text": "program” aimed to be “an appropriate means of removing any harm", "paragraph_id": "para_1532" }, { "text": "that would have been caused by the June 24th statement.” 50 And", "paragraph_id": "para_1533" }, { "text": "Carroll’s attorneys described the program as “a series of public", "paragraph_id": "para_1534" }, { "text": "relations steps necessary to fix the harm that Donald Trump’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1535" }, { "text": "defamatory statements caused.” 51 There is no evident distinction", "paragraph_id": "para_1536" }, { "text": "47 See, e.g., Expert Report of Professor Ashlee Humphreys, PhD, at 4, Carroll", "paragraph_id": "para_1537" }, { "text": "v. Trump, No. 20-CV-7311 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 2, 2023), ECF No. 192-9 (“Once a", "paragraph_id": "para_1538" }, { "text": "popular advice columnist at Elle Magazine, Ms. Carroll had invested many", "paragraph_id": "para_1539" }, { "text": "years in forming and maintaining a person brand as a wise, personable, and", "paragraph_id": "para_1540" }, { "text": "insightful truth-seeker. As a celebrated writer, she had a broad readership,", "paragraph_id": "para_1541" }, { "text": "reaching about 4.5 million Elle readers.”).", "paragraph_id": "para_1542" }, { "text": "48 See, e.g., id. at 6 (“Her work was featured in numerous major publications", "paragraph_id": "para_1543" }, { "text": "including Rolling Stone, GQ, and Playboy.”).", "paragraph_id": "para_1544" }, { "text": "49 See, e.g., id. at 45 (“One in four Elle readers being receptive to [Trump’s]", "paragraph_id": "para_1545" }, { "text": "Statements is a considerable portion of readers to critically damage", "paragraph_id": "para_1546" }, { "text": "Ms. Carroll’s brand as a columnist for the magazine.”).", "paragraph_id": "para_1547" }, { "text": "50 Deposition Transcript of Ashlee Humphreys at 12:5-9, Carroll v. Trump,", "paragraph_id": "para_1548" }, { "text": "No. 20-CV-7311 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 13, 2023), ECF No. 237-2.", "paragraph_id": "para_1549" }, { "text": "51 Trial Transcript of 1/26/24, at 708:17-19, Carroll v. Trump, No. 20-CV-7311", "paragraph_id": "para_1550" }, { "text": "(S.D.N.Y. Feb. 27, 2024), ECF No. 301.", "paragraph_id": "para_1551" }, { "text": "49", "paragraph_id": "para_1552" }, { "text": "between the cost of reputation repair and the cost of a damaged", "paragraph_id": "para_1553" }, { "text": "reputation.", "paragraph_id": "para_1554" }, { "text": "3", "paragraph_id": "para_1555" }, { "text": "On top of the duplicative compensatory damages award of", "paragraph_id": "para_1556" }, { "text": "$18.3 million, the jury awarded $65 million in punitive damages,", "paragraph_id": "para_1557" }, { "text": "which the district court refused to remit. See Carroll, 731 F. Supp. 3d", "paragraph_id": "para_1558" }, { "text": "at 628. That resulted in a ratio of 3.6:1—an amount so “grossly", "paragraph_id": "para_1559" }, { "text": "excessive,” State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Campbell, 538 U.S. 408,", "paragraph_id": "para_1560" }, { "text": "417 (2003), that even the panel opinion acknowledged that it", "paragraph_id": "para_1561" }, { "text": "“approaches the upper limit of reasonableness,” Carroll, 151 F.4th at", "paragraph_id": "para_1562" }, { "text": "84. And that is before one recognizes that the compensatory damages", "paragraph_id": "para_1563" }, { "text": "award was inflated with a double recovery and the damages award", "paragraph_id": "para_1564" }, { "text": "was based on insufficient jury findings under New York law.", "paragraph_id": "para_1565" }, { "text": "“[T]he Constitution imposes a substantive limit on the size of", "paragraph_id": "para_1566" }, { "text": "punitive damages awards.” Honda Motor Co. v. Oberg, 512 U.S. 415,", "paragraph_id": "para_1567" }, { "text": "420 (1994). In particular, “[t]he Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth", "paragraph_id": "para_1568" }, { "text": "Amendment prohibits the imposition of grossly excessive or arbitrary", "paragraph_id": "para_1569" }, { "text": "punishments on a tortfeasor.” State Farm, 538 U.S. at 416. “Elementary", "paragraph_id": "para_1570" }, { "text": "notions of fairness enshrined in our constitutional jurisprudence", "paragraph_id": "para_1571" }, { "text": "dictate that a person receive fair notice not only of the conduct that", "paragraph_id": "para_1572" }, { "text": "will subject him to punishment, but also of the severity of the penalty", "paragraph_id": "para_1573" }, { "text": "that a State may impose.” BMW of N. Am., Inc. v. Gore, 517 U.S. 559,", "paragraph_id": "para_1574" }, { "text": "574 (1996). “To the extent an award is grossly excessive, it furthers no", "paragraph_id": "para_1575" }, { "text": "legitimate purpose and constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of", "paragraph_id": "para_1576" }, { "text": "property.” State Farm, 538 U.S. at 417.", "paragraph_id": "para_1577" }, { "text": "Apart from that constitutional guarantee, our court purports to", "paragraph_id": "para_1578" }, { "text": "“exercise relatively stringent control over the size of punitive awards", "paragraph_id": "para_1579" }, { "text": "in order to ensure that such damages are ‘fair, reasonable, predictable,", "paragraph_id": "para_1580" }, { "text": "and proportionate,’ to avoid extensive and burdensome social costs,", "paragraph_id": "para_1581" }, { "text": "50", "paragraph_id": "para_1582" }, { "text": "and to reflect the fact that punitive awards are imposed without the", "paragraph_id": "para_1583" }, { "text": "protections of criminal trials.” Turley v. ISG Lackawanna, Inc., 774 F.3d", "paragraph_id": "para_1584" }, { "text": "140, 164 (2d Cir. 2014) (quoting Payne v. Jones, 711 F.3d 85, 93 (2d Cir.", "paragraph_id": "para_1585" }, { "text": "2013)). Under that standard, “a degree of excessiveness less extreme", "paragraph_id": "para_1586" }, { "text": "than ‘grossly excessive’ will support remanding for a new trial or", "paragraph_id": "para_1587" }, { "text": "remittitur of damages.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). We", "paragraph_id": "para_1588" }, { "text": "have said that we exercise strict “supervisory powers” over such", "paragraph_id": "para_1589" }, { "text": "awards, id., such that “the degree of discretion enjoyed by trial courts", "paragraph_id": "para_1590" }, { "text": "in these matters is relatively narrow,” id. (quoting Payne, 711 F.3d", "paragraph_id": "para_1591" }, { "text": "at 100).", "paragraph_id": "para_1592" }, { "text": "So much for that. The panel opinion in this case abdicated our", "paragraph_id": "para_1593" }, { "text": "purported supervisory responsibility. We previously claimed that", "paragraph_id": "para_1594" }, { "text": "when “the compensatory damages award is imprecise because of the", "paragraph_id": "para_1595" }, { "text": "nature of the injury and high when compared with similar cases, ‘a", "paragraph_id": "para_1596" }, { "text": "lesser ratio, perhaps only equal to compensatory damages, can reach the", "paragraph_id": "para_1597" }, { "text": "outermost limit of the due process guarantee.’” Id. at 165 (emphasis", "paragraph_id": "para_1598" }, { "text": "added) (quoting State Farm, 538 U.S. at 425). The compensatory", "paragraph_id": "para_1599" }, { "text": "damages award in this case is nothing if not imprecise. As the panel", "paragraph_id": "para_1600" }, { "text": "itself explained, “the jury was broadly instructed to decide the ‘fair", "paragraph_id": "para_1601" }, { "text": "and just compensation for the injury to Ms. Carroll’s reputation and", "paragraph_id": "para_1602" }, { "text": "the humiliation and mental anguish in her public and private lives that was", "paragraph_id": "para_1603" }, { "text": "caused by’ Trump’s statements.” Carroll, 151 F.4th at 79 (alterations", "paragraph_id": "para_1604" }, { "text": "omitted) (emphasis added).", "paragraph_id": "para_1605" }, { "text": "We have before us a full trial record and the opinion of an", "paragraph_id": "para_1606" }, { "text": "appellate court, yet no one can coherently describe the harms that the", "paragraph_id": "para_1607" }, { "text": "compensatory damages award was designed to remedy that are", "paragraph_id": "para_1608" }, { "text": "distinct from the “reputation repair program.” Nor is it clear why the", "paragraph_id": "para_1609" }, { "text": "measure of compensatory damages for reputational harm should", "paragraph_id": "para_1610" }, { "text": "involve the purported cost of running a nationwide public-relations", "paragraph_id": "para_1611" }, { "text": "campaign designed to persuade Republicans not to believe what", "paragraph_id": "para_1612" }, { "text": "51", "paragraph_id": "para_1613" }, { "text": "President Trump said about Carroll. 52 Even if some leeway to", "paragraph_id": "para_1614" }, { "text": "measure compensatory damages were justified given the imprecision", "paragraph_id": "para_1615" }, { "text": "involved—though it is hard to justify that much leeway—the panel", "paragraph_id": "para_1616" }, { "text": "opinion could at least have adhered to the Turley rule that no more", "paragraph_id": "para_1617" }, { "text": "than an amount of punitive damages “equal to compensatory", "paragraph_id": "para_1618" }, { "text": "damages” could follow. Turley, 774 F.3d at 165 (quoting State Farm,", "paragraph_id": "para_1619" }, { "text": "538 U.S. at 425). It did not even do that.", "paragraph_id": "para_1620" }, { "text": "The Supreme Court has said that “the most important indicium", "paragraph_id": "para_1621" }, { "text": "of the reasonableness of a punitive damages award is the degree of", "paragraph_id": "para_1622" }, { "text": "reprehensibility of the defendant’s conduct,” Gore, 517 U.S. at 575, and", "paragraph_id": "para_1623" }, { "text": "it has “instructed courts to determine the reprehensibility of a", "paragraph_id": "para_1624" }, { "text": "defendant by considering” certain factors, State Farm, 538 U.S. at 419.", "paragraph_id": "para_1625" }, { "text": "One is whether “the harm caused was physical as opposed to", "paragraph_id": "para_1626" }, { "text": "economic.” Id. The allegedly defamatory 2019 statements did not", "paragraph_id": "para_1627" }, { "text": "inflict a physical injury. Another is whether “the tortious conduct", "paragraph_id": "para_1628" }, { "text": "evinced an indifference to or a reckless disregard of the health or", "paragraph_id": "para_1629" }, { "text": "52 See Carroll, 151 F.4th at 64 (“Professor Ashley Humphreys, Carroll’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1630" }, { "text": "reputation repair expert, testified that Trump’s statements were viewed by", "paragraph_id": "para_1631" }, { "text": "between 85.8 and 104 million people and that it would cost between $7.2", "paragraph_id": "para_1632" }, { "text": "and $12.1 million to run a successful campaign to repair Carroll’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1633" }, { "text": "reputation.”); id. at 81 (explaining that “Professor Humphreys’s damages", "paragraph_id": "para_1634" }, { "text": "estimate was based” on “the amount it would take to run a successful", "paragraph_id": "para_1635" }, { "text": "reputation repair campaign aimed at changing the minds of people who", "paragraph_id": "para_1636" }, { "text": "believed Trump’s false statements about Carroll. As Professor Humphreys", "paragraph_id": "para_1637" }, { "text": "testified at trial, a reputation repair campaign consists of hiring ‘a number", "paragraph_id": "para_1638" }, { "text": "of trusted sources’ who are tasked with sharing positive messages about", "paragraph_id": "para_1639" }, { "text": "‘the attitude that you want to change.’”) (quoting App’x 1460); Expert", "paragraph_id": "para_1640" }, { "text": "Report of Professor Ashlee Humphreys, supra note 47, at 45 (“76% of", "paragraph_id": "para_1641" }, { "text": "Republicans polled either found the allegations of sexual harassment and", "paragraph_id": "para_1642" }, { "text": "sexual assault made against Mr. Trump to be not credible or needed more", "paragraph_id": "para_1643" }, { "text": "information about the claims, which I consider to mean that they are", "paragraph_id": "para_1644" }, { "text": "receptive to believing the Statements in this case.”).", "paragraph_id": "para_1645" }, { "text": "52", "paragraph_id": "para_1646" }, { "text": "safety of others,” id., such as the deceptive sale of an unsafe product,", "paragraph_id": "para_1647" }, { "text": "see Gore, 517 U.S. at 576. The 2019 statements involved denials of", "paragraph_id": "para_1648" }, { "text": "wrongdoing in a press release and comments to reporters. A third is", "paragraph_id": "para_1649" }, { "text": "whether “the harm was the result of intentional malice, trickery, or", "paragraph_id": "para_1650" }, { "text": "deceit, or mere accident.” State Farm, 538 U.S. at 419. In the 2019", "paragraph_id": "para_1651" }, { "text": "statements, President Trump responded to an accusation that Carroll", "paragraph_id": "para_1652" }, { "text": "published in New York magazine and to reporters’ questions about it.", "paragraph_id": "para_1653" }, { "text": "The district court said that a jury could find that “‘the degree of", "paragraph_id": "para_1654" }, { "text": "reprehensibility’ of Mr. Trump’s conduct was remarkably high,", "paragraph_id": "para_1655" }, { "text": "perhaps unprecedented.” Carroll, 731 F. Supp. 3d at 634. But no", "paragraph_id": "para_1656" }, { "text": "reasonable person could have expected anything other than a", "paragraph_id": "para_1657" }, { "text": "vehement denial.", "paragraph_id": "para_1658" }, { "text": "The panel opinion decided that the punitive damages award in", "paragraph_id": "para_1659" }, { "text": "this case is “not out of step” with awards in “comparable defamation", "paragraph_id": "para_1660" }, { "text": "suits.” Carroll, 151 F.4th at 85. It identified a default judgment against", "paragraph_id": "para_1661" }, { "text": "Mayor Giuliani relating to the 2020 election, see Freeman v. Giuliani,", "paragraph_id": "para_1662" }, { "text": "691 F. Supp. 3d 32, 71 (D.D.C. 2023), which resulted in punitive", "paragraph_id": "para_1663" }, { "text": "damages of $75 million, see Freeman v. Giuliani, 732 F. Supp. 3d 30, 41", "paragraph_id": "para_1664" }, { "text": "(D.D.C. 2024). It identified a state-court “award of $321,650,000 in", "paragraph_id": "para_1665" }, { "text": "common law punitive damages in the form of attorneys’ fees to 11", "paragraph_id": "para_1666" }, { "text": "plaintiffs against Alex Jones” related to Sandy Hook. Carroll, 151 F.4th", "paragraph_id": "para_1667" }, { "text": "at 85 (citing Lafferty v. Jones, 229 Conn. App. 487, 493 (2024)). It turns", "paragraph_id": "para_1668" }, { "text": "out, however, that “[i]n Connecticut, common-law punitive damages,", "paragraph_id": "para_1669" }, { "text": "also called exemplary damages, primarily are compensatory in", "paragraph_id": "para_1670" }, { "text": "nature.” Lafferty v. Jones, No. 18-6046436, 2022 WL 18110184, at *3", "paragraph_id": "para_1671" }, { "text": "(Conn. Super. Ct. Nov. 10, 2022); see also Iino v. Spalter, 192 Conn. App.", "paragraph_id": "para_1672" }, { "text": "421, 466 (2019). And the panel opinion explained that “a New York", "paragraph_id": "para_1673" }, { "text": "state trial court awarded Louis Bacon $100 million in punitive", "paragraph_id": "para_1674" }, { "text": "damages against fashion mogul Peter Nygard for defamation” even", "paragraph_id": "para_1675" }, { "text": "though “that judgment was vacated and remanded due to a defect in", "paragraph_id": "para_1676" }, { "text": "53", "paragraph_id": "para_1677" }, { "text": "service of process.” Carroll, 151 F.4th at 85 (citing Bacon v. Nygard, 232", "paragraph_id": "para_1678" }, { "text": "A.D.3d 407, 407-08 (1st Dep’t 2024)). In fact, the appellate court", "paragraph_id": "para_1679" }, { "text": "vacated the default judgment “granting plaintiff summary judgment", "paragraph_id": "para_1680" }, { "text": "on his claims without opposition submitted by defendant” as well as", "paragraph_id": "para_1681" }, { "text": "“the related Special Referee order awarding damages.” Bacon, 232", "paragraph_id": "para_1682" }, { "text": "A.D.3d at 407.53", "paragraph_id": "para_1683" }, { "text": "The point of “[c]omparing the punitive damages award and the", "paragraph_id": "para_1684" }, { "text": "civil or criminal penalties that could be imposed for comparable", "paragraph_id": "para_1685" }, { "text": "misconduct” is to identify an “indicium of the reasonableness of a", "paragraph_id": "para_1686" }, { "text": "punitive damages award.” Gore, 517 U.S. at 583, 575. The panel had to", "paragraph_id": "para_1687" }, { "text": "search for these highly idiosyncratic cases to find anything remotely", "paragraph_id": "para_1688" }, { "text": "comparable to the punitive damages award here—and even then, the", "paragraph_id": "para_1689" }, { "text": "cases involved either default judgments or non-punitive damages.", "paragraph_id": "para_1690" }, { "text": "That is an indictment of rather than a justification for the panel’s", "paragraph_id": "para_1691" }, { "text": "conclusion that the grossly excessive award was reasonable.", "paragraph_id": "para_1692" }, { "text": "At a minimum, our court should eliminate the double recovery", "paragraph_id": "para_1693" }, { "text": "in the compensatory damages award and adhere to our precedent in", "paragraph_id": "para_1694" }, { "text": "allowing punitive damages in an amount no greater than “equal to", "paragraph_id": "para_1695" }, { "text": "compensatory damages.” Turley, 774 F.3d at 165 (quoting State Farm,", "paragraph_id": "para_1696" }, { "text": "538 U.S. at 425).", "paragraph_id": "para_1697" }, { "text": "53 The unopposed judgment resulted in “the highest defamation judgment", "paragraph_id": "para_1698" }, { "text": "in New York State history” based on findings of a special referee that the", "paragraph_id": "para_1699" }, { "text": "defendant “executed a global, decade-long, multi-media defamation", "paragraph_id": "para_1700" }, { "text": "campaign ‘to personally and professionally destroy Bacon.’” Susman", "paragraph_id": "para_1701" }, { "text": "Godfrey, Press Release, Susman Godfrey Secures $203 Million Win for", "paragraph_id": "para_1702" }, { "text": "Louis Bacon in Defamation Suit Against Peter Nygard (Oct. 4, 2023),", "paragraph_id": "para_1703" }, { "text": "https://perma.cc/X4XT-NVZP.", "paragraph_id": "para_1704" }, { "text": "54", "paragraph_id": "para_1705" }, { "text": "* * *", "paragraph_id": "para_1706" }, { "text": "In this case, (1) the United States should have been substituted", "paragraph_id": "para_1707" }, { "text": "as the defendant, (2) the district court should have considered the", "paragraph_id": "para_1708" }, { "text": "defense of presidential immunity, (3) President Trump should not", "paragraph_id": "para_1709" }, { "text": "have been denied a trial on liability, (4) the jury should have been", "paragraph_id": "para_1710" }, { "text": "properly instructed on common-law malice, (5) the compensatory", "paragraph_id": "para_1711" }, { "text": "damages should have been limited to a single recovery, and (6) the", "paragraph_id": "para_1712" }, { "text": "grossly excessive punitive damages award should have been", "paragraph_id": "para_1713" }, { "text": "remitted. Put together, these proceedings represent a manifest", "paragraph_id": "para_1714" }, { "text": "miscarriage of justice. I would rehear the case en banc. I dissent from", "paragraph_id": "para_1715" }, { "text": "the decision of the court not to do so.", "paragraph_id": "para_1716" }, { "text": "24-644", "paragraph_id": "para_1717" }, { "text": "Carroll v. Trump", "paragraph_id": "para_1718" }, { "text": "CHIN, Senior Circuit Judge, in support of the denial of rehearing en banc:", "paragraph_id": "para_1719" }, { "text": "As a member of the three-judge panel that decided this case, I write to", "paragraph_id": "para_1720" }, { "text": "more fully explain why our two per curiam decisions in this case were correct, and why", "paragraph_id": "para_1721" }, { "text": "a majority of our Court appropriately declined to rehear those decisions en banc.1", "paragraph_id": "para_1722" }, { "text": "These are the third and fourth times our Court has voted to deny en banc", "paragraph_id": "para_1723" }, { "text": "rehearing of rulings in this case, which concerns defamation and sexual assault claims", "paragraph_id": "para_1724" }, { "text": "brought by E. Jean Carroll against Donald Trump. The two per curiam decisions at issue", "paragraph_id": "para_1725" }, { "text": "in this round of en banc voting -- the fifth and sixth opinions by our Court in this case --", "paragraph_id": "para_1726" }, { "text": "arise from two related suits. The first (\"Carroll I\") asserted defamation claims based on", "paragraph_id": "para_1727" }, { "text": "statements made by Trump in June 2019 while he was President, and the second", "paragraph_id": "para_1728" }, { "text": "(\"Carroll II\") asserted a sexual assault claim as well as defamation claims based on", "paragraph_id": "para_1729" }, { "text": "statements made by Trump in October 2022 after he left office. Although Carroll I was", "paragraph_id": "para_1730" }, { "text": "filed first, Carroll II was tried first; in May 2023, the jury in Carroll II found, following a", "paragraph_id": "para_1731" }, { "text": "nine-day trial, that Trump sexually abused Carroll at Bergdorf Goodman in 1996 by", "paragraph_id": "para_1732" }, { "text": "digitally penetrating her and that he defamed her with comments he made in 2022 after", "paragraph_id": "para_1733" }, { "text": "1 As a senior judge, I have no vote on whether to rehear a case en banc. See 28 U.S.C.", "paragraph_id": "para_1734" }, { "text": "§ 46(c); Fed. R. App. P. 40(c). Pursuant to this Court’s protocols, however, senior judges who", "paragraph_id": "para_1735" }, { "text": "were members of the panel deciding the case that is subject to the en banc petition may file a", "paragraph_id": "para_1736" }, { "text": "statement expressing their views where, as here, an active judge on this Court has filed a dissent", "paragraph_id": "para_1737" }, { "text": "from the denial of a petition for rehearing en banc.", "paragraph_id": "para_1738" }, { "text": "2", "paragraph_id": "para_1739" }, { "text": "he left office. The jury awarded Carroll $5 million in compensatory and punitive", "paragraph_id": "para_1740" }, { "text": "damages, and this Court affirmed, Carroll v. Trump, 124 F.4th 140 (2d Cir. 2024) (per", "paragraph_id": "para_1741" }, { "text": "curiam) (\"Carroll 4\"), and denied rehearing en banc, 141 F.4th 366 (2d Cir. 2025).2", "paragraph_id": "para_1742" }, { "text": "Carroll I was tried in January 2024. The jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million", "paragraph_id": "para_1743" }, { "text": "in compensatory and punitive damages. On appeal of the judgment, the panel issued", "paragraph_id": "para_1744" }, { "text": "two decisions. First, in April 2025, while the appeal was pending and after it had been", "paragraph_id": "para_1745" }, { "text": "fully briefed, Trump moved before us to substitute the United States as the defendant", "paragraph_id": "para_1746" }, { "text": "under the Westfall Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2679. The panel denied the motion by order last", "paragraph_id": "para_1747" }, { "text": "June, and issued an opinion explaining our reasoning in August. Carroll v. Trump, 148", "paragraph_id": "para_1748" }, { "text": "F.4th 110 (2d Cir. 2025) (per curiam) (\"Carroll 5\"). Second, in September, the panel", "paragraph_id": "para_1749" }, { "text": "rejected Trump's attempt to reassert a defense based on presidential immunity, and", "paragraph_id": "para_1750" }, { "text": "affirmed the district court's rulings and the jury's damages award. Carroll v. Trump, 151", "paragraph_id": "para_1751" }, { "text": "F.4th 50 (2d Cir. 2025) (per curiam) (\"Carroll 6\"). It is these two panel rulings -- Carroll 5", "paragraph_id": "para_1752" }, { "text": "and Carroll 6 -- that are the subject of these en banc petitions.", "paragraph_id": "para_1753" }, { "text": "Trump and the United States have petitioned for rehearing of Carroll 5,3", "paragraph_id": "para_1754" }, { "text": "and Trump has petitioned for rehearing of Carroll 6.4 Neither petition identifies how", "paragraph_id": "para_1755" }, { "text": "2 As in our panel opinions, I refer to the six decisions of this Court as Carroll 1-6,", "paragraph_id": "para_1756" }, { "text": "numbered in chronological order. As previously indicated, supra at 1, I refer to the two", "paragraph_id": "para_1757" }, { "text": "underlying suits as Carroll I (defamation claims based on June 2019 statements) and Carroll II", "paragraph_id": "para_1758" }, { "text": "(sexual assault claim and defamation claims based on October 2022 statements).", "paragraph_id": "para_1759" }, { "text": "3 Petition for Panel Rehearing and En Banc Determination of the United States and", "paragraph_id": "para_1760" }, { "text": "President Donald J. Trump, Carroll v. Trump, No. 24-644 (2d Cir. Aug. 22, 2025), Dkt. No. 132.", "paragraph_id": "para_1761" }, { "text": "4 Petition for Rehearing En Banc of President Donald J. Trump, Carroll v. Trump, No.", "paragraph_id": "para_1762" }, { "text": "3", "paragraph_id": "para_1763" }, { "text": "our decisions conflict with precedent of this Circuit, another Circuit, or the Supreme", "paragraph_id": "para_1764" }, { "text": "Court, or pose a question of \"exceptional importance\" justifying en banc review. See Fed.", "paragraph_id": "para_1765" }, { "text": "R. App. P. 40(b)(2)(A)-(D).", "paragraph_id": "para_1766" }, { "text": "The dissent goes further than either of the filed petitions, challenging", "paragraph_id": "para_1767" }, { "text": "rulings in our decisions, as well as prior decisions of this Court, that neither Trump nor", "paragraph_id": "para_1768" }, { "text": "the Government contests in their petitions for rehearing. En banc review of these issues,", "paragraph_id": "para_1769" }, { "text": "which were not raised by the petitioning parties, was properly denied. See Trump v.", "paragraph_id": "para_1770" }, { "text": "Illinois, 607 U.S. ---, 146 S. Ct. 432, 437 (2025) (Alito, J., dissenting from denial of stay) (\"If", "paragraph_id": "para_1771" }, { "text": "a party passes up what seems to us a promising argument, we do not assume the role of", "paragraph_id": "para_1772" }, { "text": "advocate. Instead, we normally decide the questions that the parties choose to", "paragraph_id": "para_1773" }, { "text": "present.\"); Castro v. United States, 540 U.S. 375, 386 (2003) (Scalia, J., concurring in part", "paragraph_id": "para_1774" }, { "text": "and concurring in judgment) (\"Our adversary system is designed around the premise", "paragraph_id": "para_1775" }, { "text": "that the parties know what is best for them, and are responsible for advancing the facts", "paragraph_id": "para_1776" }, { "text": "and arguments entitling them to relief.\").", "paragraph_id": "para_1777" }, { "text": "A familiar principle cautions that rehearing en banc is \"not favored,\" and is", "paragraph_id": "para_1778" }, { "text": "indeed exceedingly rare in our Circuit. Fed. R. App. P. 40(c); see generally Jon O.", "paragraph_id": "para_1779" }, { "text": "Newman, In Banc Practice in the Second Circuit: The Virtues of Restraint, 50 Brook. L. Rev.", "paragraph_id": "para_1780" }, { "text": "365 (1984). I write to respond in greater detail to some of Trump's and the dissent's", "paragraph_id": "para_1781" }, { "text": "24-644 (2d Cir. Sep. 23, 2025), Dkt. No. 138. The Government filed an amicus brief on the", "paragraph_id": "para_1782" }, { "text": "presidential immunity issue. Brief for the United States as Amicus Curiae, Carroll v. Trump, No.", "paragraph_id": "para_1783" }, { "text": "24-644 (2d Cir. Sep. 29, 2025), Dkt. No. 139.", "paragraph_id": "para_1784" }, { "text": "4", "paragraph_id": "para_1785" }, { "text": "arguments, which a majority of this Court correctly determined did not warrant en banc", "paragraph_id": "para_1786" }, { "text": "review.", "paragraph_id": "para_1787" }, { "text": "BACKGROUND", "paragraph_id": "para_1788" }, { "text": "The full history of this litigation is detailed in Carroll 6, 151 F.4th at 59-66.", "paragraph_id": "para_1789" }, { "text": "I summarize it as relevant here.", "paragraph_id": "para_1790" }, { "text": "On June 21, 2019, New York magazine published an excerpt from Carroll's", "paragraph_id": "para_1791" }, { "text": "book in which she alleged that Trump sexually assaulted her at Bergdorf Goodman in", "paragraph_id": "para_1792" }, { "text": "1996. Trump -- who was serving his first term as President at the time -- responded", "paragraph_id": "para_1793" }, { "text": "mere hours later, asserting that \"[he'd] never met [Carroll] in [his] life,\" \"[f]alse", "paragraph_id": "para_1794" }, { "text": "accusations diminish the severity of real assault,\" and \"people should pay dearly for", "paragraph_id": "para_1795" }, { "text": "such false accusations.\" Id. at 60. The next day, Trump told a reporter: \"It's a totally", "paragraph_id": "para_1796" }, { "text": "false accusation. I have absolutely no idea who [Carroll] is.\" Id. at 61. Two days after", "paragraph_id": "para_1797" }, { "text": "that, The Hill released an interview in which Trump stated: \"I'll say it with great respect:", "paragraph_id": "para_1798" }, { "text": "Number one, she's not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened,", "paragraph_id": "para_1799" }, { "text": "OK?\" Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_1800" }, { "text": "In November 2019, Carroll filed Carroll I in state court alleging defamation", "paragraph_id": "para_1801" }, { "text": "based on these statements. In September 2020, the Government intervened pursuant to", "paragraph_id": "para_1802" }, { "text": "the Westfall Act, which permits the United States to be substituted as the defendant in", "paragraph_id": "para_1803" }, { "text": "certain tort suits against federal employees. The then-Attorney General certified that", "paragraph_id": "para_1804" }, { "text": "Trump made the allegedly defamatory statements while acting \"within the scope of his", "paragraph_id": "para_1805" }, { "text": "5", "paragraph_id": "para_1806" }, { "text": "employment,\" removed the case to the Southern District of New York, and moved to", "paragraph_id": "para_1807" }, { "text": "substitute the United States for Trump as the defendant. Carroll 5, 148 F.4th at 113. The", "paragraph_id": "para_1808" }, { "text": "district court denied the motion to substitute, Trump appealed, and the Westfall Act", "paragraph_id": "para_1809" }, { "text": "issue was litigated for the next four years, including in the D.C. Court of Appeals. See", "paragraph_id": "para_1810" }, { "text": "id.; see also Carroll v. Trump, 49 F.4th 759 (2d Cir. 2022) (\"Carroll 1\") (certifying question of", "paragraph_id": "para_1811" }, { "text": "D.C. scope of employment law); Trump v. Carroll, 292 A.3d 220 (D.C. 2023) (answering", "paragraph_id": "para_1812" }, { "text": "certified question); Carroll v. Trump, 66 F.4th 91 (2d Cir. 2023) (per curiam) (\"Carroll 2\")", "paragraph_id": "para_1813" }, { "text": "(remanding to district court with instructions to apply clarified law).", "paragraph_id": "para_1814" }, { "text": "When the case was remanded to the district court in 2023, the district", "paragraph_id": "para_1815" }, { "text": "court issued an order giving the Government and Trump an opportunity to address", "paragraph_id": "para_1816" }, { "text": "Westfall certification and substitution within a thirty-day window. Carroll 5, 148 F.4th", "paragraph_id": "para_1817" }, { "text": "at 114. The Government did so and wrote that, in light of the D.C. Court of Appeals'", "paragraph_id": "para_1818" }, { "text": "decision and new factual developments, \"the Department of Justice is declining to", "paragraph_id": "para_1819" }, { "text": "certify under the Westfall Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2679(d), that defendant Donald J. Trump was", "paragraph_id": "para_1820" }, { "text": "acting within the scope of his office and employment as President of the United States\"", "paragraph_id": "para_1821" }, { "text": "when he made the statements in question. Id. (citation modified). Trump did not", "paragraph_id": "para_1822" }, { "text": "respond at all. Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_1823" }, { "text": "No further action was taken on the Westfall issue until April 2025, when", "paragraph_id": "para_1824" }, { "text": "the Government and Trump jointly moved, in our Court, to substitute the United States", "paragraph_id": "para_1825" }, { "text": "for Trump under the Westfall Act. Id. The panel denied the motion in Carroll 5. Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_1826" }, { "text": "6", "paragraph_id": "para_1827" }, { "text": "While the Westfall Act appeals were pending, litigation on the merits", "paragraph_id": "para_1828" }, { "text": "continued in Carroll I, including over the import of presidential immunity. Trump did", "paragraph_id": "para_1829" }, { "text": "not assert presidential immunity as a defense in his state court answer or amended", "paragraph_id": "para_1830" }, { "text": "answer after removal, instead invoking it for the first time on summary judgment in", "paragraph_id": "para_1831" }, { "text": "December 2022. Carroll 6, 151 F.4th at 62. The district court denied Trump's attempt to", "paragraph_id": "para_1832" }, { "text": "assert immunity at that point, reasoning that, inter alia, he had waived it by failing to", "paragraph_id": "para_1833" }, { "text": "raise it in earlier responsive pleadings. A different panel of this Court affirmed in a", "paragraph_id": "para_1834" }, { "text": "consolidated interlocutory appeal, Carroll v. Trump, 88 F.4th 418, 434-35 (2d Cir. 2023)", "paragraph_id": "para_1835" }, { "text": "(\"Carroll 3\"), and the majority of active judges voted to deny rehearing en banc, No. 23-", "paragraph_id": "para_1836" }, { "text": "1045, 2024 WL 96249 (2d Cir. Jan. 8, 2024). Carroll 3 held that presidential immunity is", "paragraph_id": "para_1837" }, { "text": "waivable and non-jurisdictional, and that Trump had waived it here -- rulings that the", "paragraph_id": "para_1838" }, { "text": "panel then adhered to in Carroll 6 as binding law of the case, and that Trump and the", "paragraph_id": "para_1839" }, { "text": "dissent now again ask us to reconsider en banc.", "paragraph_id": "para_1840" }, { "text": "While the appeals of Carroll I were proceeding, Carroll filed Carroll II", "paragraph_id": "para_1841" }, { "text": "based on the Adult Survivors Act for sexual assault and for defamation based on a", "paragraph_id": "para_1842" }, { "text": "different statement Trump made in October 2022, when he was no longer President. In", "paragraph_id": "para_1843" }, { "text": "that statement, Trump called Carroll's allegations \"a Hoax and a lie\" and repeated that", "paragraph_id": "para_1844" }, { "text": "she \"is not telling the truth, is a woman who I had nothing to do with, didn't know, and", "paragraph_id": "para_1845" }, { "text": "would have no interest in knowing her if I ever had the chance.\" Carroll 6, 151 F.4th at", "paragraph_id": "para_1846" }, { "text": "63. As noted above, the Carroll II jury found that Trump sexually abused Carroll in 1996", "paragraph_id": "para_1847" }, { "text": "7", "paragraph_id": "para_1848" }, { "text": "and that he defamed her in 2022. We affirmed in Carroll 4, and the Court again denied", "paragraph_id": "para_1849" }, { "text": "en banc review. 124 F.4th at 150, reh'g en banc denied, 141 F.4th 366 (2d Cir. 2025).", "paragraph_id": "para_1850" }, { "text": "Proceedings then restarted in Carroll I. In light of the jury verdict in", "paragraph_id": "para_1851" }, { "text": "Carroll II, the district court granted summary judgment for Carroll on her defamation", "paragraph_id": "para_1852" }, { "text": "claim in part because Trump was collaterally estopped from disputing whether he", "paragraph_id": "para_1853" }, { "text": "sexually abused Carroll in 1996, whether his June 2019 statements were false, and", "paragraph_id": "para_1854" }, { "text": "whether the statements were made with actual malice. See Carroll 6, 151 F.4th at 68-71.", "paragraph_id": "para_1855" }, { "text": "The district court concluded in the alternative that even if Trump was not collaterally", "paragraph_id": "para_1856" }, { "text": "estopped from disputing actual malice, Carroll was still entitled to summary judgment", "paragraph_id": "para_1857" }, { "text": "because a reasonable jury could only so conclude on the record before the court. Id. at", "paragraph_id": "para_1858" }, { "text": "71. Trump did not challenge the district court's alternative holding on appeal. Id. The", "paragraph_id": "para_1859" }, { "text": "case then went to trial on damages in January 2024. Id. at 64. Carroll testified for two", "paragraph_id": "para_1860" }, { "text": "days, describing the onslaught of attacks and death threats she had received since the", "paragraph_id": "para_1861" }, { "text": "statements, the loss of her job at Elle and other sources of income, and her inability to", "paragraph_id": "para_1862" }, { "text": "afford stronger personal security measures despite fearing for her physical safety. Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_1863" }, { "text": "In addition, Carroll's expert testified that running a successful campaign to repair her", "paragraph_id": "para_1864" }, { "text": "reputation would cost between $7.2 and $12.1 million. Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_1865" }, { "text": "The jury also heard evidence that Trump had continued to make", "paragraph_id": "para_1866" }, { "text": "disparaging statements about Carroll during the four years that Carroll I was pending.", "paragraph_id": "para_1867" }, { "text": "These included comments made by Trump leading up to the Carroll II trial (repeating", "paragraph_id": "para_1868" }, { "text": "8", "paragraph_id": "para_1869" }, { "text": "that he had \"no idea who this woman is,\" and that the \"Bergdorf Goodman\" \"stuff\" is \"all", "paragraph_id": "para_1870" }, { "text": "made-up\"), immediately after the Carroll II verdict (calling the lawsuit \"the greatest", "paragraph_id": "para_1871" }, { "text": "witch hunt of all time\"), and while the Carroll I trial was taking place (\"I am going to the", "paragraph_id": "para_1872" }, { "text": "Biden encouraged Witch Hunt in Lower Manhattan to fight against a FAKE Case from a", "paragraph_id": "para_1873" }, { "text": "woman I have never met, seen, or touched . . . .\"). See id. at 64-65 (citations modified).", "paragraph_id": "para_1874" }, { "text": "After testifying in Carroll I, Trump was warned on multiple occasions by the district", "paragraph_id": "para_1875" }, { "text": "court to stop making audible comments about the case near the jury, and he walked out", "paragraph_id": "para_1876" }, { "text": "during Carroll's closing argument. Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_1877" }, { "text": "The jury awarded Carroll $11 million for the \"reputation repair program,\"", "paragraph_id": "para_1878" }, { "text": "$7.3 million for other compensatory damages, and $65 million in punitive damages -- a", "paragraph_id": "para_1879" }, { "text": "total of $83.3 million. Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_1880" }, { "text": "DISCUSSION", "paragraph_id": "para_1881" }, { "text": "I begin with a discussion of Carroll 5, the panel's decision concerning", "paragraph_id": "para_1882" }, { "text": "substitution under the Westfall Act. I then discuss Carroll 6, the panel's decision on", "paragraph_id": "para_1883" }, { "text": "presidential immunity, the district court's rulings, and the damages award in Carroll I.", "paragraph_id": "para_1884" }, { "text": "I. The Westfall Act Decision (Carroll 5)", "paragraph_id": "para_1885" }, { "text": "The Westfall Act permits the United States to be substituted as the", "paragraph_id": "para_1886" }, { "text": "defendant in certain tort suits against federal employees if the alleged conduct occurred", "paragraph_id": "para_1887" }, { "text": "within the \"scope of [the employee's] office or employment.\" 28 U.S.C. § 2679(d). If the", "paragraph_id": "para_1888" }, { "text": "9", "paragraph_id": "para_1889" }, { "text": "United States were to be substituted as the defendant in this case, Carroll's defamation", "paragraph_id": "para_1890" }, { "text": "claims -- which have been litigated now for more than six years -- would be barred by", "paragraph_id": "para_1891" }, { "text": "the Federal Tort Claims Act (the \"FTCA\"), which does not waive sovereign immunity for", "paragraph_id": "para_1892" }, { "text": "the tort of defamation. See 28 U.S.C. § 2680(h); Carroll 1, 49 F.4th at 766.", "paragraph_id": "para_1893" }, { "text": "The Westfall Act lays out a process for obtaining substitution in three", "paragraph_id": "para_1894" }, { "text": "types of cases: (1) cases filed in federal court where the Attorney General has \"certified\"", "paragraph_id": "para_1895" }, { "text": "that the employee was acting with his scope of employment (§ 2679(d)(1)), (2) cases filed", "paragraph_id": "para_1896" }, { "text": "in state court where the Attorney General has issued such a certification (§ 2679(d)(2)),", "paragraph_id": "para_1897" }, { "text": "and (3) cases where the Attorney General has declined to issue a certification, regardless", "paragraph_id": "para_1898" }, { "text": "of the court in which the case commenced (§ 2679(d)(3)).", "paragraph_id": "para_1899" }, { "text": "Carroll I was filed in state court, a situation covered by § 2679(d)(2). That", "paragraph_id": "para_1900" }, { "text": "sub-section provides:", "paragraph_id": "para_1901" }, { "text": "Upon certification by the Attorney General that the defendant employee", "paragraph_id": "para_1902" }, { "text": "was acting within the scope of his office or employment at the time of the", "paragraph_id": "para_1903" }, { "text": "incident out of which the claim arose, any civil action or proceeding", "paragraph_id": "para_1904" }, { "text": "commenced upon such claim in a State court shall be removed without", "paragraph_id": "para_1905" }, { "text": "bond at any time before trial by the Attorney General to the district court", "paragraph_id": "para_1906" }, { "text": "of the United States for the district and division embracing the place in", "paragraph_id": "para_1907" }, { "text": "which the action or proceeding is pending. Such action or proceeding", "paragraph_id": "para_1908" }, { "text": "shall be deemed to be an action or proceeding brought against the United", "paragraph_id": "para_1909" }, { "text": "States under the provisions of this title and all references thereto, and the", "paragraph_id": "para_1910" }, { "text": "United States shall be substituted as the party defendant.", "paragraph_id": "para_1911" }, { "text": "28 U.S.C. § 2679(d)(2) (emphasis added).", "paragraph_id": "para_1912" }, { "text": "Sub-section (d)(2) contemplates a three-step process: the Attorney General", "paragraph_id": "para_1913" }, { "text": "first issues a scope-of-employment certification, then removes the case to federal court,", "paragraph_id": "para_1914" }, { "text": "10", "paragraph_id": "para_1915" }, { "text": "and lastly moves for the United States to be substituted as the defendant. As our", "paragraph_id": "para_1916" }, { "text": "decision in Carroll 5 explains, the critical time limitation in (d)(2) is that certification and", "paragraph_id": "para_1917" }, { "text": "removal must occur \"before trial\" for subsequent substitution to be proper. See 148 F.4th", "paragraph_id": "para_1918" }, { "text": "at 116-17.", "paragraph_id": "para_1919" }, { "text": "Initially, Carroll I followed the three-step process outlined above: Carroll", "paragraph_id": "para_1920" }, { "text": "filed her defamation suit in state court, the Attorney General issued a Westfall Act", "paragraph_id": "para_1921" }, { "text": "certification about a year later and removed the case, and the district court considered", "paragraph_id": "para_1922" }, { "text": "and denied the Government's motion to substitute. See 49 F.4th at 760-61; see also De", "paragraph_id": "para_1923" }, { "text": "Martinez v. Lamagno, 515 U.S. 417, 434 (1995) (noting that while certification is conclusive", "paragraph_id": "para_1924" }, { "text": "for purposes of removal, substitution is subject to judicial review). All of this occurred", "paragraph_id": "para_1925" }, { "text": "at the preliminary stages of the case, well \"before trial.\" Carroll 5, 148 F.4th at 116-17.", "paragraph_id": "para_1926" }, { "text": "The typicality ended there, as the Westfall issues were then litigated in", "paragraph_id": "para_1927" }, { "text": "three courts over the course of four years. See id. at 113-14. The critical juncture for", "paragraph_id": "para_1928" }, { "text": "present purposes was when the Westfall Act issue was presented on remand before the", "paragraph_id": "para_1929" }, { "text": "district court in June and July 2023. At that time, the Attorney General expressly", "paragraph_id": "para_1930" }, { "text": "declined to issue a Westfall certification or to otherwise seek substitution, and Trump", "paragraph_id": "para_1931" }, { "text": "did not take any action with respect to certification or substitution. Id. at 114; see 28", "paragraph_id": "para_1932" }, { "text": "U.S.C. § 2679(d)(3) (allowing the employee to petition for certification where the", "paragraph_id": "para_1933" }, { "text": "Attorney General has declined to certify). The Westfall issue lay settled until April 2025,", "paragraph_id": "para_1934" }, { "text": "when the Government and Trump revived their efforts to have the United States", "paragraph_id": "para_1935" }, { "text": "11", "paragraph_id": "para_1936" }, { "text": "substituted as the defendant in the case by moving for that relief in this Court. Carroll 5,", "paragraph_id": "para_1937" }, { "text": "148 F.4th at 114.", "paragraph_id": "para_1938" }, { "text": "The Carroll 5 panel denied the Government's post-trial motion to", "paragraph_id": "para_1939" }, { "text": "substitute for three separate reasons: (1) the Government and Trump had waived", "paragraph_id": "para_1940" }, { "text": "substitution by failing to request it before the district court prior to trial; (2) the 2025", "paragraph_id": "para_1941" }, { "text": "request was untimely under the Westfall Act; and (3) as a matter of equity in light of the", "paragraph_id": "para_1942" }, { "text": "procedural posture of the case. See id. at 116-21. These rulings were correct as a matter", "paragraph_id": "para_1943" }, { "text": "of law and did not warrant en banc review.", "paragraph_id": "para_1944" }, { "text": "A. Trump and the Government waived their right to certify and substitute.", "paragraph_id": "para_1945" }, { "text": "I begin, as does the dissent, with waiver.5 Both the Government and", "paragraph_id": "para_1946" }, { "text": "Trump waived their right to seek substitution. Although the district court gave them an", "paragraph_id": "para_1947" }, { "text": "opportunity in June 2023 to weigh in on the issue, the Government explicitly elected not", "paragraph_id": "para_1948" }, { "text": "to seek substitution, and Trump took no action -- neither seeking certification or", "paragraph_id": "para_1949" }, { "text": "substitution at the time, nor otherwise objecting to the Government's decision. Id. at", "paragraph_id": "para_1950" }, { "text": "114. They did not raise the issue again until after the case had been tried, judgment had", "paragraph_id": "para_1951" }, { "text": "been entered, an appeal was taken, and the appeal had been fully briefed on the merits.", "paragraph_id": "para_1952" }, { "text": "Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_1953" }, { "text": "5 I note, however, that rehearing en banc on the basis of waiver was not warranted in any", "paragraph_id": "para_1954" }, { "text": "event because it was presented in the alternative to our statutory holding. See Carroll 5, 148", "paragraph_id": "para_1955" }, { "text": "F.4th at 119.", "paragraph_id": "para_1956" }, { "text": "12", "paragraph_id": "para_1957" }, { "text": "The dissent suggests that the panel decision treats the Attorneys General", "paragraph_id": "para_1958" }, { "text": "in different administrations inconsistently, because we permitted Attorney General", "paragraph_id": "para_1959" }, { "text": "Garland's \"withdrawal\" of certification in 2023, but denied Attorney General Bondi's", "paragraph_id": "para_1960" }, { "text": "attempt to issue a new certification in 2025. See Menashi, J., dissenting from the denial", "paragraph_id": "para_1961" }, { "text": "of reh'g en banc (\"Dissent\") at 9. This ignores two important realities. First, Garland's", "paragraph_id": "para_1962" }, { "text": "decision not to certify followed substantive legal developments in this case, including", "paragraph_id": "para_1963" }, { "text": "the D.C. Court of Appeals' intervening decision clarifying its respondeat superior law, a", "paragraph_id": "para_1964" }, { "text": "remand from our Court to apply that law (Carroll 2), and an order for additional", "paragraph_id": "para_1965" }, { "text": "briefing by the district court. No such legal developments preceded Bondi's post-trial", "paragraph_id": "para_1966" }, { "text": "certification. Second, and more importantly, Garland's withdrawal occurred \"before", "paragraph_id": "para_1967" }, { "text": "trial\" -- the critical time limitation for certification and substitution under § 2679(d)(2).", "paragraph_id": "para_1968" }, { "text": "That is the dispositive reason why the Bondi certification, which occurred fifteen", "paragraph_id": "para_1969" }, { "text": "months after trial, was untimely under the statute.", "paragraph_id": "para_1970" }, { "text": "Contrary to the dissent's contention, the Government does not escape the", "paragraph_id": "para_1971" }, { "text": "express time limitations of § 2679(d)(2) simply because it is not \"a party\" to the", "paragraph_id": "para_1972" }, { "text": "litigation. See Dissent at 8. Indeed, the entire mechanism of the Westfall Act", "paragraph_id": "para_1973" }, { "text": "contemplates that the Government is initially not a party to a suit brought against an", "paragraph_id": "para_1974" }, { "text": "employee-defendant, but has rights and obligations to assert its interests under the Act.", "paragraph_id": "para_1975" }, { "text": "The fact that Congress authorized the Attorney General to issue certifications does not", "paragraph_id": "para_1976" }, { "text": "13", "paragraph_id": "para_1977" }, { "text": "mean that the Attorney General cannot waive this statutory right.6 After all, the dissent", "paragraph_id": "para_1978" }, { "text": "appears to agree that if the Government failed to remove an action \"before trial,\" as is", "paragraph_id": "para_1979" }, { "text": "expressly required by § 2679(d)(2), it would waive its statutory right to do so. See", "paragraph_id": "para_1980" }, { "text": "Dissent at 13. There is no reason to treat certification or substitution any differently.", "paragraph_id": "para_1981" }, { "text": "As noted in Carroll 5, Trump also had the option to petition the district", "paragraph_id": "para_1982" }, { "text": "court for certification under § 2679(d)(3) after the Government declined to certify in", "paragraph_id": "para_1983" }, { "text": "2023. 148 F.4th at 119. If the Attorney General refuses to certify, sub-section (d)(3)", "paragraph_id": "para_1984" }, { "text": "provides that \"the employee may at any time before trial petition the court\" to certify and", "paragraph_id": "para_1985" }, { "text": "substitute. 28 U.S.C. § 2679(d)(3) (emphasis added). Here, the district court even", "paragraph_id": "para_1986" }, { "text": "solicited \"any further submission by . . . the defendant with respect to substitution,\" and", "paragraph_id": "para_1987" }, { "text": "Trump took no action. Carroll 5, 148 F.4th at 114 (citation modified). On this point, even", "paragraph_id": "para_1988" }, { "text": "the dissent does not dispute that a litigant like Trump can waive his right to petition for", "paragraph_id": "para_1989" }, { "text": "certification and substitution. Indeed, Courts of Appeals have routinely held that", "paragraph_id": "para_1990" }, { "text": "litigants waive their rights to assert a Westfall certification position on appeal where", "paragraph_id": "para_1991" }, { "text": "they have taken a contrary position below.7", "paragraph_id": "para_1992" }, { "text": "6 Cf., e.g., United States v. Coonan, 826 F.2d 1180, 1184 (2d Cir. 1987) (statutory right to", "paragraph_id": "para_1993" }, { "text": "detention hearing within five days of initial appearance under Bail Reform Act is waivable);", "paragraph_id": "para_1994" }, { "text": "Lilly v. City of New York, 934 F.3d 222, 237 (2d Cir. 2019) (\"[I]t is not against public policy for", "paragraph_id": "para_1995" }, { "text": "litigants to waive their statutory rights to attorney’s fees . . . .\"); United States v. Tigano, 880 F.3d", "paragraph_id": "para_1996" }, { "text": "602, 611 (2d Cir. 2018) (\"[A] defendant may waive his statutory right to a speedy trial by failing", "paragraph_id": "para_1997" }, { "text": "to raise it . . . .\").", "paragraph_id": "para_1998" }, { "text": "7 See, e.g., Jakuttis v. Town of Dracut, 95 F.4th 22, 35-36 (1st Cir. 2024); Beary v. Harris Cnty.,", "paragraph_id": "para_1999" }, { "text": "No. 24-20371, 2025 WL 1577820, at *4 (5th Cir. June 4, 2025).", "paragraph_id": "para_2000" }, { "text": "14", "paragraph_id": "para_2001" }, { "text": "B. The Government's April 2025 certification was untimely.", "paragraph_id": "para_2002" }, { "text": "Carroll 5's primary holding is that the text of the Westfall Act does not", "paragraph_id": "para_2003" }, { "text": "permit certification and substitution after trial. Again, § 2679(d)(2) provides: \"Upon", "paragraph_id": "para_2004" }, { "text": "certification by the Attorney General . . . any civil action . . . in a State court shall be", "paragraph_id": "para_2005" }, { "text": "removed . . . at any time before trial.\" 28 U.S.C. § 2679(d)(2) (emphasis added). The", "paragraph_id": "para_2006" }, { "text": "natural reading of this language is that certification and removal must happen \"before", "paragraph_id": "para_2007" }, { "text": "trial\" for any subsequent substitution to occur.", "paragraph_id": "para_2008" }, { "text": "The dissent acknowledges -- as it must -- that removal must occur before", "paragraph_id": "para_2009" }, { "text": "trial. See Dissent at 13. But it goes on to argue that this limitation does not apply to", "paragraph_id": "para_2010" }, { "text": "certification or substitution. Id. This is incorrect. If removal must occur before trial, so", "paragraph_id": "para_2011" }, { "text": "too must certification, because certification is what prompts the removal in the first", "paragraph_id": "para_2012" }, { "text": "place. See Carroll 5, 148 F.4th at 116; Sullivan v. United States, 21 F.3d 198, 205 (7th Cir.", "paragraph_id": "para_2013" }, { "text": "1994) (citation modified) (noting that (d)(2) \"permits removal, and therefore", "paragraph_id": "para_2014" }, { "text": "certification, at any time before trial\").8 Moreover, sub-section (d)(3) similarly requires", "paragraph_id": "para_2015" }, { "text": "certification \"at any time before trial\" and substitution only \"[u]pon such certification.\"", "paragraph_id": "para_2016" }, { "text": "§ 2679(d)(3) (emphasis added). Accordingly, the Government's post-trial certification", "paragraph_id": "para_2017" }, { "text": "was untimely under the text of (d)(2). And because substitution can only occur", "paragraph_id": "para_2018" }, { "text": "8 The dissent selectively cites to Sullivan elsewhere to support its reading of sub-section", "paragraph_id": "para_2019" }, { "text": "(d)(1). See Dissent at 12 & n.12. Sub-section (d)(1), however, governs cases filed in federal court,", "paragraph_id": "para_2020" }, { "text": "and therefore does not apply here.", "paragraph_id": "para_2021" }, { "text": "15", "paragraph_id": "para_2022" }, { "text": "following proper certification and removal, the Government could not move to", "paragraph_id": "para_2023" }, { "text": "substitute, after trial and on appeal of the merits, based on an untimely certification.", "paragraph_id": "para_2024" }, { "text": "The dissent next argues that our holding creates a circuit split, pointing to", "paragraph_id": "para_2025" }, { "text": "the D.C. Circuit's decision in Wasserman v. Rodacker, 557 F.3d 635, 639 (D.C. Cir. 2009).", "paragraph_id": "para_2026" }, { "text": "See Dissent at 15. The dissent contends that, under Wasserman, Carroll's case is actually", "paragraph_id": "para_2027" }, { "text": "governed by § 2679(d)(1), which applies to cases commenced in federal court.9 For", "paragraph_id": "para_2028" }, { "text": "support, the dissent draws on a line in Wasserman stating that \"when a case is timely", "paragraph_id": "para_2029" }, { "text": "removed to federal court, a new case is 'commenced' in the district court that allows 'the", "paragraph_id": "para_2030" }, { "text": "United States to substitute itself for [the federal employee] pursuant to 28 U.S.C.", "paragraph_id": "para_2031" }, { "text": "§ 2679(d)(1).'\" Id. (citing Wasserman, 557 F.3d at 639).", "paragraph_id": "para_2032" }, { "text": "In Wasserman, a pro se plaintiff who was arrested by a U.S. Park Police", "paragraph_id": "para_2033" }, { "text": "officer for walking his dogs without a leash sued the officer in the D.C. Superior Court,", "paragraph_id": "para_2034" }, { "text": "9 The dissent cites to three cases analyzing the timing of certification and substitution", "paragraph_id": "para_2035" }, { "text": "under sub-section (d)(1), which does not contain the \"before trial\" language present in (d)(2).", "paragraph_id": "para_2036" }, { "text": "See Dissent at 12 n.12. Two of those decisions pertain to certification and substitution issues in", "paragraph_id": "para_2037" }, { "text": "cases initiated before the Westfall Act was enacted, see Sullivan, 21 F.3d at 205-06; Sowell v. Am.", "paragraph_id": "para_2038" }, { "text": "Cyanamid Co., 888 F.2d 802, 804-05 (11th Cir. 1989), and the other decision concerns whether", "paragraph_id": "para_2039" }, { "text": "district courts may permit reasonable discovery and order an evidentiary hearing to resolve", "paragraph_id": "para_2040" }, { "text": "issues presented in a Westfall Act certification that conflict with what is alleged in a complaint,", "paragraph_id": "para_2041" }, { "text": "Melo v. Hafer, 13 F.3d 736, 747 (3d Cir. 1994). These holdings are of questionable relevance to", "paragraph_id": "para_2042" }, { "text": "this case. As to the dissent's arguments about (d)(1), it is an open question in our Circuit as to", "paragraph_id": "para_2043" }, { "text": "whether that sub-section also requires that certification and substitution occur before trial, and", "paragraph_id": "para_2044" }, { "text": "at least one other Circuit has held that it does. See Brown v. Armstrong, 949 F.2d 1007, 1012 (8th", "paragraph_id": "para_2045" }, { "text": "Cir. 1991) (\"[C]hallenges to the Attorney General’s certification must be resolved before trial, as", "paragraph_id": "para_2046" }, { "text": "soon after the motion for substitution as practicable, even if an evidentiary hearing is needed to", "paragraph_id": "para_2047" }, { "text": "resolve relevant fact disputes.\"). Regardless, we did not decide that question in Carroll 5, and", "paragraph_id": "para_2048" }, { "text": "indeed did not make any holding as to the interpretation or operation of (d)(1).", "paragraph_id": "para_2049" }, { "text": "16", "paragraph_id": "para_2050" }, { "text": "alleging that the officer violated his constitutional and civil rights. 557 F.3d at 636-37.", "paragraph_id": "para_2051" }, { "text": "The officer removed the case to the D.C. District Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441 and", "paragraph_id": "para_2052" }, { "text": "§ 1442. Id. at 637.10 Notably, removal and substitution both occurred before trial. Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_2053" }, { "text": "The D.C. Circuit held that certification and substitution was proper on \"two grounds\" --", "paragraph_id": "para_2054" }, { "text": "either because when the officer's case was removed, the action was \"commenced . . . in a", "paragraph_id": "para_2055" }, { "text": "United States district court\" for purposes of (d)(1), or because the D.C. Superior Court", "paragraph_id": "para_2056" }, { "text": "should be considered a \"state court\" for purposes of (d)(2). Id. at 639.", "paragraph_id": "para_2057" }, { "text": "To force a circuit split, the dissent would have us adopt an implausibly", "paragraph_id": "para_2058" }, { "text": "broad reading of Wasserman's first ground, and completely ignore the second.", "paragraph_id": "para_2059" }, { "text": "Wasserman indeed states that when the officer's case was removed, the action was", "paragraph_id": "para_2060" }, { "text": "\"commenced . . . in a United States district court.\" Id. at 639. But the D.C. Circuit clearly", "paragraph_id": "para_2061" }, { "text": "was not holding that every state court case removed pursuant to (d)(2) then, upon", "paragraph_id": "para_2062" }, { "text": "removal, becomes a new federal case governed by (d)(1) -- an interpretation that would", "paragraph_id": "para_2063" }, { "text": "render (d)(2) entirely superfluous. That is an implausible reading, not least because", "paragraph_id": "para_2064" }, { "text": "removal in Wasserman was effected by 28 U.S.C. § 1441 and § 1442, not the Westfall Act.", "paragraph_id": "para_2065" }, { "text": "Instead, Wasserman resolved the narrow question of whether federal employees who are", "paragraph_id": "para_2066" }, { "text": "sued in the D.C. Superior Court -- as opposed to any state court -- are entitled to", "paragraph_id": "para_2067" }, { "text": "certification and substitution under § 2679(d). See id. at 639-40. And the dissent", "paragraph_id": "para_2068" }, { "text": "10 The notice of removal was also filed on the behalf of the United States, but states that the", "paragraph_id": "para_2069" }, { "text": "defendant, identified as Rodacker (the police officer), was removing the case pursuant to § 1441", "paragraph_id": "para_2070" }, { "text": "and § 1442. See Wasserman, 557 F.3d at 637.", "paragraph_id": "para_2071" }, { "text": "17", "paragraph_id": "para_2072" }, { "text": "altogether ignores the D.C. Circuit's alternative holding that the D.C. Superior Court is a", "paragraph_id": "para_2073" }, { "text": "state court for purposes of (d)(2), a proposition that \"seemed obvious\" under that", "paragraph_id": "para_2074" }, { "text": "circuit's caselaw. Id. at 638-39 (noting that in no prior cases did the D.C. Circuit even", "paragraph_id": "para_2075" }, { "text": "see a need to \"elaborate on the reasons why the Superior Court was a State court under", "paragraph_id": "para_2076" }, { "text": "the Westfall Act\").", "paragraph_id": "para_2077" }, { "text": "In any event, there is no question that Carroll initiated her action here in", "paragraph_id": "para_2078" }, { "text": "state court, or that her action was removed after certification pursuant to (d)(2). Carroll", "paragraph_id": "para_2079" }, { "text": "5 thus accords with Wasserman in reasoning that removals of actions filed in state court", "paragraph_id": "para_2080" }, { "text": "are effectuated under (d)(2) and are therefore subject to its time limitations. This", "paragraph_id": "para_2081" }, { "text": "reading is consistent both with precedent of our Court interpreting substantially similar", "paragraph_id": "para_2082" }, { "text": "language in related statutes, and with that of other Circuits interpreting § 2679(d). See", "paragraph_id": "para_2083" }, { "text": "Carroll 5, 148 F.4th at 118-19 (collecting cases).", "paragraph_id": "para_2084" }, { "text": "Nor does our holding misconstrue or undermine the Westfall Act's", "paragraph_id": "para_2085" }, { "text": "purpose, which is to \"relieve covered employees from the cost and effort of defending", "paragraph_id": "para_2086" }, { "text": "the lawsuit, and to place those burdens on the Government's shoulders.\" Id. at 117", "paragraph_id": "para_2087" }, { "text": "(quoting Osborn v. Haley, 549 U.S. 225, 252 (2007)). Despite the dissent's contentions, see", "paragraph_id": "para_2088" }, { "text": "Dissent at 14, requiring certification and substitution before trial does not undercut the", "paragraph_id": "para_2089" }, { "text": "Westfall Act's purpose of immunizing employees in covered suits. That the Westfall Act", "paragraph_id": "para_2090" }, { "text": "creates immunity does not mean that it does so indefinitely, especially given the", "paragraph_id": "para_2091" }, { "text": "Supreme Court's repeated instruction that \"[i]mmunity-related issues\" under the Act", "paragraph_id": "para_2092" }, { "text": "18", "paragraph_id": "para_2093" }, { "text": "\"should be decided at the earliest opportunity.\" Osborn, 549 U.S. at 253. I see no reason", "paragraph_id": "para_2094" }, { "text": "why enforcing the limitations Congress enacted would upset this purpose.", "paragraph_id": "para_2095" }, { "text": "C. Carroll 5 contained no substantive scope-of-employment or substitution", "paragraph_id": "para_2096" }, { "text": "analysis.", "paragraph_id": "para_2097" }, { "text": "The final \"error\" alleged by the dissent is not actually about this decision", "paragraph_id": "para_2098" }, { "text": "at all. Instead, the dissent advances a new theory of the President's scope of", "paragraph_id": "para_2099" }, { "text": "employment not asserted by any of the parties, and criticizes three prior decisions of", "paragraph_id": "para_2100" }, { "text": "three different courts applying well-settled law that scope of employment questions", "paragraph_id": "para_2101" }, { "text": "under the Westfall Act are determined according to state respondeat superior law. See", "paragraph_id": "para_2102" }, { "text": "Carroll v. Trump, 498 F. Supp. 3d 422 (S.D.N.Y. 2020) (the district court's 2020 decision on", "paragraph_id": "para_2103" }, { "text": "the Government's initial motion for substitution); Carroll 1, 49 F.4th 759 (this Court's", "paragraph_id": "para_2104" }, { "text": "2022 decision certifying the scope-of-employment question); Trump v. Carroll, 292 A.3d", "paragraph_id": "para_2105" }, { "text": "220 (D.C. 2023) (the D.C. Court of Appeals' decision clarifying its respondeat superior", "paragraph_id": "para_2106" }, { "text": "law).", "paragraph_id": "para_2107" }, { "text": "The dissent asserts that these three courts all erred by looking to state law", "paragraph_id": "para_2108" }, { "text": "to analyze whether Trump's statements were made within his scope of employment.", "paragraph_id": "para_2109" }, { "text": "See Dissent at 20. But to be clear, the panel's decision in Carroll 5 did not address this", "paragraph_id": "para_2110" }, { "text": "question. It merely held that the Government's attempt to certify and substitute", "paragraph_id": "para_2111" }, { "text": "post-trial was untimely under the Westfall Act. Carroll 5 therefore created no split on", "paragraph_id": "para_2112" }, { "text": "any substantive scope of employment law with the D.C. Circuit or any other circuit,", "paragraph_id": "para_2113" }, { "text": "notwithstanding the dissent's suggestions otherwise. Contra id. at 18-19. Moreover,", "paragraph_id": "para_2114" }, { "text": "19", "paragraph_id": "para_2115" }, { "text": "even assuming the panel had weighed in on the scope-of-employment issue, the", "paragraph_id": "para_2116" }, { "text": "applicable law is well-settled and did not merit en banc review. The principle that the", "paragraph_id": "para_2117" }, { "text": "dissent calls \"bizarre\" and \"strange\" -- that federal courts should resolve scope of", "paragraph_id": "para_2118" }, { "text": "employment questions under the FTCA in accordance with state respondeat superior law", "paragraph_id": "para_2119" }, { "text": "-- see id. at 6, 20, is based on the text of the FTCA itself11 and has been applied", "paragraph_id": "para_2120" }, { "text": "consistently by this and every other Court of Appeals for decades.12", "paragraph_id": "para_2121" }, { "text": "The dissent instead urges us to adopt a new scope-of-employment test", "paragraph_id": "para_2122" }, { "text": "that applies only when the \"employee\" is the President. See id. at 4-6. Tellingly, even the", "paragraph_id": "para_2123" }, { "text": "Government did not make this argument below, and instead urged application of D.C.", "paragraph_id": "para_2124" }, { "text": "respondeat superior law.13 And neither the Government nor Trump argued for such a", "paragraph_id": "para_2125" }, { "text": "new test in their en banc petition, which appropriately limited its challenges to our", "paragraph_id": "para_2126" }, { "text": "11 The FTCA provides federal courts with \"exclusive jurisdiction of civil actions on claims", "paragraph_id": "para_2127" }, { "text": "against the United States, for money damages, . . . for [tortious conduct] of any employee of the", "paragraph_id": "para_2128" }, { "text": "Government while acting within the scope of his office or employment, under circumstances", "paragraph_id": "para_2129" }, { "text": "where the United States, if a private person, would be liable to the claimant in accordance with the law of", "paragraph_id": "para_2130" }, { "text": "the place where the act or omission occurred.\" 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b)(1) (emphases added).", "paragraph_id": "para_2131" }, { "text": "Accordingly, the Act expressly incorporates state substantive law.", "paragraph_id": "para_2132" }, { "text": "12 See, e.g., Hamm v. United States, 483 F.3d 135, 138 (2d Cir. 2007) (\"scope of employment\" is", "paragraph_id": "para_2133" }, { "text": "defined \"by the respondeat superior law of the jurisdiction in which the accident occurred\")", "paragraph_id": "para_2134" }, { "text": "(citation modified); Fountain v. Karim, 838 F.3d 129, 135 (2d Cir. 2016) (same). Every other", "paragraph_id": "para_2135" }, { "text": "Circuit also looks at state respondeat superior law. See Aversa v. United States, 99 F.3d 1200, 1208", "paragraph_id": "para_2136" }, { "text": "(1st Cir. 1996); Lomando v. United States, 667 F.3d 363, 374 (3d Cir. 2011); Jamison v. Wiley, 14 F.3d", "paragraph_id": "para_2137" }, { "text": "222, 237 (4th Cir. 1994); Palmer v. Flaggman, 93 F.3d 196, 202 (5th Cir. 1996); Chandonais v. U.S.", "paragraph_id": "para_2138" }, { "text": "Dep't of Air Force, No. 90-2103, 934 F.2d 322 (table), 1991 WL 93096 (6th Cir. June 3, 1991); St.", "paragraph_id": "para_2139" }, { "text": "John v. United States, 240 F.3d 671, 676 (8th Cir. 2001); Saleh v. Bush, 848 F.3d 880, 888 (9th Cir.", "paragraph_id": "para_2140" }, { "text": "2017); Hockenberry v. United States, 42 F.4th 1164, 1170 (10th Cir. 2022); Bennett v. United States,", "paragraph_id": "para_2141" }, { "text": "102 F.3d 486, 489 (11th Cir. 1996); Plevnik v. Sullivan, 146 F.4th 1174, 1182 (D.C. Cir. 2025).", "paragraph_id": "para_2142" }, { "text": "13 See Carroll 1, 49 F.4th at 766 (\"The parties all agree that the second issue presented (scope", "paragraph_id": "para_2143" }, { "text": "of employment) is governed by the District of Columbia’s respondeat superior law.\").", "paragraph_id": "para_2144" }, { "text": "20", "paragraph_id": "para_2145" }, { "text": "actual holding on the timeliness of certification.14 As reflected by the vote of the", "paragraph_id": "para_2146" }, { "text": "majority of active judges on this Court, there is no reason to convene en banc to consider", "paragraph_id": "para_2147" }, { "text": "a legal theory -- not advanced by any party -- that would contravene statutory text, our", "paragraph_id": "para_2148" }, { "text": "own precedent, and the law in every other Court of Appeals.", "paragraph_id": "para_2149" }, { "text": "∗ ∗ ∗", "paragraph_id": "para_2150" }, { "text": "At bottom, I agree with the dissent that \"the same rules should apply", "paragraph_id": "para_2151" }, { "text": "equally to all defendants.\" Id. at 3 (quoting Carroll, 141 F.4th at 368 (Menashi, J.,", "paragraph_id": "para_2152" }, { "text": "dissenting from the denial of rehearing en banc)). The fact of the matter is that no other", "paragraph_id": "para_2153" }, { "text": "defendant would be permitted to move to substitute the United States in his place,", "paragraph_id": "para_2154" }, { "text": "fifteen months after trial and the entry of judgment against him. The Court", "paragraph_id": "para_2155" }, { "text": "appropriately declined to convene en banc to revisit this issue.", "paragraph_id": "para_2156" }, { "text": "II. The Merits Decision (Carroll 6)", "paragraph_id": "para_2157" }, { "text": "A month after the panel issued Carroll 5, we decided the merits of the", "paragraph_id": "para_2158" }, { "text": "appeal in which Trump and the United States again requested substitution. In Carroll 6,", "paragraph_id": "para_2159" }, { "text": "the panel concluded that it was bound by this Court's prior holding on presidential", "paragraph_id": "para_2160" }, { "text": "immunity, affirmed the district court's summary judgment rulings and jury", "paragraph_id": "para_2161" }, { "text": "instructions, and upheld the jury's award of $83.3 million in compensatory and punitive", "paragraph_id": "para_2162" }, { "text": "14 See generally Petition for Panel Rehearing and En Banc Determination of the United States", "paragraph_id": "para_2163" }, { "text": "and President Donald J. Trump, supra note 3.", "paragraph_id": "para_2164" }, { "text": "21", "paragraph_id": "para_2165" }, { "text": "damages. 151 F.4th at 59.", "paragraph_id": "para_2166" }, { "text": "Trump petitioned for en banc review of our rulings on presidential", "paragraph_id": "para_2167" }, { "text": "immunity, for which the Government has also filed an amicus brief, and on punitive", "paragraph_id": "para_2168" }, { "text": "damages.15 The dissent argues our Court should also have conducted en banc review of", "paragraph_id": "para_2169" }, { "text": "the district court's grant of partial summary judgment for Carroll on two elements of", "paragraph_id": "para_2170" }, { "text": "liability not raised by Trump for rehearing: its jury instructions on punitive damages,", "paragraph_id": "para_2171" }, { "text": "and the jury's compensatory damages award. See Dissent at 32-49. To the extent the", "paragraph_id": "para_2172" }, { "text": "dissent goes further in challenging our decisions than the parties did, those criticisms", "paragraph_id": "para_2173" }, { "text": "are unpersuasive.", "paragraph_id": "para_2174" }, { "text": "I begin by discussing immunity and punitive damages, the two rulings", "paragraph_id": "para_2175" }, { "text": "challenged by Trump. I then address the dissent's additional opposition to our rulings", "paragraph_id": "para_2176" }, { "text": "regarding summary judgment, jury instructions, and compensatory damages.", "paragraph_id": "para_2177" }, { "text": "A. Carroll 3 was binding law of the case on presidential immunity.", "paragraph_id": "para_2178" }, { "text": "In 2023, a previous panel of our Court confronted as a matter of first", "paragraph_id": "para_2179" }, { "text": "impression the question of whether presidential immunity could be waived. Carroll 3,", "paragraph_id": "para_2180" }, { "text": "88 F.4th at 425. At that time, Trump had asserted that presidential immunity was", "paragraph_id": "para_2181" }, { "text": "categorically not waivable, and did not even brief the argument that his actions in this", "paragraph_id": "para_2182" }, { "text": "case did not constitute waiver. See id. at 429 & n.52.", "paragraph_id": "para_2183" }, { "text": "15 See Petition for Rehearing En Banc of President Donald J. Trump, supra note 4, at 4, 16;", "paragraph_id": "para_2184" }, { "text": "Brief for the United States as Amicus Curiae, supra note 4.", "paragraph_id": "para_2185" }, { "text": "22", "paragraph_id": "para_2186" }, { "text": "The Carroll 3 panel explained in an extensive opinion that, contrary to", "paragraph_id": "para_2187" }, { "text": "Trump's argument, presidential immunity is \"not jurisdictional\" and is instead \"treated", "paragraph_id": "para_2188" }, { "text": "like other forms of immunity that [Trump] does not dispute are waivable.\" Id. at 429. It", "paragraph_id": "para_2189" }, { "text": "then held that Trump waived his immunity defense here by, among other things, failing", "paragraph_id": "para_2190" }, { "text": "to assert it in his answer to Carroll's complaint in state court and conceding to it at oral", "paragraph_id": "para_2191" }, { "text": "argument. Id. at 429-30. Rehearing en banc was denied, with no active judge calling for", "paragraph_id": "para_2192" }, { "text": "a vote. Carroll v. Trump, No. 23-1045, 2024 WL 96249 (2d Cir. Jan. 8, 2024).", "paragraph_id": "para_2193" }, { "text": "Two years later in Carroll 6, we adhered to these rulings when Trump", "paragraph_id": "para_2194" }, { "text": "again asserted that presidential immunity cannot be waived. 151 F.4th at 66. In this", "paragraph_id": "para_2195" }, { "text": "appeal, Trump also argued for the first time that even if immunity could be waived,", "paragraph_id": "para_2196" }, { "text": "such waiver requires an \"explicit and unequivocal renunciation.\" Id. (citation modified).", "paragraph_id": "para_2197" }, { "text": "The panel rejected this renewed argument because Carroll 3 was law of the case, and", "paragraph_id": "para_2198" }, { "text": "because the Supreme Court's decision in Trump v. United States, 603 U.S. 593 (2024)", "paragraph_id": "para_2199" }, { "text": "(\"Trump\"), did not alter the prevailing law on whether and how presidential immunity", "paragraph_id": "para_2200" }, { "text": "could be waived.", "paragraph_id": "para_2201" }, { "text": "Although the dissent critiques our Court's decision in Carroll 3, the panel", "paragraph_id": "para_2202" }, { "text": "was bound to follow it as law of the case. Under our Circuit's precedent, we revisit", "paragraph_id": "para_2203" }, { "text": "issues explicitly or implicitly decided on prior appeal only when there is an", "paragraph_id": "para_2204" }, { "text": "\"intervening change of controlling law\" that creates \"a clear conviction of error with", "paragraph_id": "para_2205" }, { "text": "respect to a point of law on which [the] previous decision was predicated,\" when there", "paragraph_id": "para_2206" }, { "text": "23", "paragraph_id": "para_2207" }, { "text": "is new evidence, or \"to correct a clear error or to prevent manifest injustice.\" United", "paragraph_id": "para_2208" }, { "text": "States v. Aquart, 92 F.4th 77, 87, 93 (2d Cir. 2024) (citation modified). None of those", "paragraph_id": "para_2209" }, { "text": "justifications were present here.", "paragraph_id": "para_2210" }, { "text": "Carroll 3 pertained to waiver. Accordingly, the question is whether Trump", "paragraph_id": "para_2211" }, { "text": "\"made clear a change in prevailing Circuit law\" on that issue, and if it did so in a", "paragraph_id": "para_2212" }, { "text": "manner that \"departed significantly from controlling precedent.\" Id. at 92 (citation", "paragraph_id": "para_2213" }, { "text": "modified). The answer is no. Trump -- a case about the scope of presidential immunity", "paragraph_id": "para_2214" }, { "text": "in criminal prosecutions -- said nothing about whether or how immunity could be", "paragraph_id": "para_2215" }, { "text": "waived in a civil case. That observation does not discount the magnitude of Trump's", "paragraph_id": "para_2216" }, { "text": "impact on other dimensions of presidential immunity.16 But to the extent Trump", "paragraph_id": "para_2217" }, { "text": "changed the prevailing law on the scope of such immunity, no part of it \"departed", "paragraph_id": "para_2218" }, { "text": "significantly\" from the prior law concerning waiver on which Carroll 3 relied. Id. at 92", "paragraph_id": "para_2219" }, { "text": "(citation modified).", "paragraph_id": "para_2220" }, { "text": "16 The dissent points to another decision of this Court in which our colleagues remanded a", "paragraph_id": "para_2221" }, { "text": "case to the district court with instructions to consider \"whether Trump v. United States", "paragraph_id": "para_2222" }, { "text": "represented a change in controlling law.\" Dissent at 22 (quoting New York v. Trump, 158 F.4th", "paragraph_id": "para_2223" }, { "text": "458, 466 (2d Cir. 2025) (per curiam)). The dissent omits the end of the quoted sentence from", "paragraph_id": "para_2224" }, { "text": "New York v. Trump, which explains that Trump may have changed \"controlling law that could", "paragraph_id": "para_2225" }, { "text": "support a finding of good cause.\" 158 F.4th at 466-67 (emphasis added). As can be surmised when", "paragraph_id": "para_2226" }, { "text": "the instruction is read in full, the question in New York v. Trump was whether Trump's untimely", "paragraph_id": "para_2227" }, { "text": "attempt to remove his criminal hush money prosecution could be excused for \"good cause\"", "paragraph_id": "para_2228" }, { "text": "because the prosecution was one \"for or relating to\" his official acts as President. Id. at 467. The", "paragraph_id": "para_2229" }, { "text": "panel noted that whether removal was proper turned on whether the State relied on evidence", "paragraph_id": "para_2230" }, { "text": "\"relate[d] to immunized official acts\" in a manner precluded by the intervening decision in", "paragraph_id": "para_2231" }, { "text": "Trump. Id. at 468. On the other hand, despite the dissent's attempts at recharacterization, Trump", "paragraph_id": "para_2232" }, { "text": "does not change the prevailing law laid down by Carroll 3, which did not discuss whether the", "paragraph_id": "para_2233" }, { "text": "2019 statements fell within the bounds of Trump's official responsibilities as President.", "paragraph_id": "para_2234" }, { "text": "24", "paragraph_id": "para_2235" }, { "text": "In arguing that both Carroll 3 and Carroll 6 were incorrect, the dissent", "paragraph_id": "para_2236" }, { "text": "mischaracterizes both opinions as deciding a question not analyzed by either decision --", "paragraph_id": "para_2237" }, { "text": "whether Trump's 2019 statements about Carroll would be covered by presidential", "paragraph_id": "para_2238" }, { "text": "immunity had he not waived the defense. But neither Carroll 3 nor Carroll 6 opined on", "paragraph_id": "para_2239" }, { "text": "the scope of presidential immunity, or analyzed whether Trump's 2019 statements were", "paragraph_id": "para_2240" }, { "text": "protected by it. So the question of whether Trump \"materially affected the law of", "paragraph_id": "para_2241" }, { "text": "presidential immunity,\" Dissent at 25, is simply not the relevant inquiry.", "paragraph_id": "para_2242" }, { "text": "Carroll 3 remains law of the case. But even if it did not, we appropriately", "paragraph_id": "para_2243" }, { "text": "declined to convene en banc to craft new law on waiver. Trump argued, for the first", "paragraph_id": "para_2244" }, { "text": "time on appeal in Carroll 6, that any waiver of presidential immunity requires an", "paragraph_id": "para_2245" }, { "text": "\"explicit and unequivocal renunciation.\" See 151 F.4th at 66 (citation modified). For this", "paragraph_id": "para_2246" }, { "text": "new argument, he relies on United States v. Helstoski, 442 U.S. 477 (1979), a case decided", "paragraph_id": "para_2247" }, { "text": "over forty years ago holding that legislative immunity under the Speech and Debate", "paragraph_id": "para_2248" }, { "text": "Clause could only be waived in this manner. Id. at 490-91. Trump (and the dissent)", "paragraph_id": "para_2249" }, { "text": "now argue that presidential immunity should also be subject to this waiver standard,", "paragraph_id": "para_2250" }, { "text": "because something in Trump transformed presidential immunity into the type of", "paragraph_id": "para_2251" }, { "text": "structural constitutional immunity that is on par with the Speech or Debate immunity at", "paragraph_id": "para_2252" }, { "text": "issue in Helstoski. See Dissent at 23; Petition for Rehearing En Banc of President Donald", "paragraph_id": "para_2253" }, { "text": "J. Trump at 11, Carroll v. Trump, No. 24-644 (2d Cir. Sep. 23, 2025) (\"Trump Petition\").", "paragraph_id": "para_2254" }, { "text": "As Carroll 6 explained and as Trump itself reasoned, the notion that", "paragraph_id": "para_2255" }, { "text": "25", "paragraph_id": "para_2256" }, { "text": "presidential immunity derives from structural separation of powers principles existed", "paragraph_id": "para_2257" }, { "text": "long before the Supreme Court's decision in Trump. See Carroll 6, 151 F.4th at 66; Trump,", "paragraph_id": "para_2258" }, { "text": "603 U.S. at 611-13, 638 (discussing and quoting, inter alia, United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S.", "paragraph_id": "para_2259" }, { "text": "683 (1974); Nixon v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 731 (1982)). To the extent Trump reaffirmed that", "paragraph_id": "para_2260" }, { "text": "presidential immunity is \"rooted in the constitutional tradition of the separation of", "paragraph_id": "para_2261" }, { "text": "powers,\" it did not identify a new structural source of this immunity that would", "paragraph_id": "para_2262" }, { "text": "heighten the bar for waiver. See Carroll 6, 151 F.4th at 67. Nor does Trump suggest that", "paragraph_id": "para_2263" }, { "text": "the standard for waiving presidential immunity should or must mirror, for example,", "paragraph_id": "para_2264" }, { "text": "congressional abrogations of state sovereign immunity derived from the text of the", "paragraph_id": "para_2265" }, { "text": "Eleventh Amendment. Contra Trump Petition at 12.", "paragraph_id": "para_2266" }, { "text": "The dissent contends that Trump did not waive immunity here. But that", "paragraph_id": "para_2267" }, { "text": "argument is clearly belied by the record. Presidential immunity was not raised for the", "paragraph_id": "para_2268" }, { "text": "first three years of this case. See Carroll 3, 88 F.4th at 430. Trump did not mention", "paragraph_id": "para_2269" }, { "text": "immunity in his answer to Carroll's complaint in state court.17 He did not invoke", "paragraph_id": "para_2270" }, { "text": "immunity when he moved to amend his answer after the case was removed in 2022. See", "paragraph_id": "para_2271" }, { "text": "17 The dissent points to Trump's answer in his state court motion to stay the proceedings,", "paragraph_id": "para_2272" }, { "text": "in which he raised an affirmative defense that he was \"immune, under the Supremacy Clause of", "paragraph_id": "para_2273" }, { "text": "the United States Constitution, from suit in state court while serving as President of the United", "paragraph_id": "para_2274" }, { "text": "States\" and that \"[t]he alleged defamatory statements [were] privileged or protected by one or", "paragraph_id": "para_2275" }, { "text": "more immunities . . . under the Constitution of the United States.\" Dissent at 22 n.18; see Carroll", "paragraph_id": "para_2276" }, { "text": "6, 151 F.4th at 62 n.7. This vague, passing reference to \"one or more immunities\" is insufficient", "paragraph_id": "para_2277" }, { "text": "to meet the requirements to assert an affirmative defense in a responsive pleading under state or", "paragraph_id": "para_2278" }, { "text": "federal civil procedure rules. See Carroll v. Trump, 680 F. Supp. 3d 491, 499 n.22 (S.D.N.Y. July 5,", "paragraph_id": "para_2279" }, { "text": "2023) (collecting cases).", "paragraph_id": "para_2280" }, { "text": "26", "paragraph_id": "para_2281" }, { "text": "Carroll 6, 151 F.4th at 62. Instead, Trump argued that presidential immunity barred", "paragraph_id": "para_2282" }, { "text": "liability for the first time in his summary judgment papers filed in December 2022 and", "paragraph_id": "para_2283" }, { "text": "January 2023. Id. In Carroll 3, this Court affirmed the district court's ruling that Trump", "paragraph_id": "para_2284" }, { "text": "waived his presidential immunity defense by failing to invoke it in his first state court", "paragraph_id": "para_2285" }, { "text": "answer -- a decision that Trump did not even challenge in that appeal. 88 F.4th at 429 &", "paragraph_id": "para_2286" }, { "text": "n.52. Moreover, Trump's counsel conceded at that oral argument that \"assuming the", "paragraph_id": "para_2287" }, { "text": "defense of presidential immunity is waivable, Defendant had waived that defense.\" Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_2288" }, { "text": "at 430. If any other litigant had failed to raise an affirmative defense in this way, there", "paragraph_id": "para_2289" }, { "text": "would be no question as to whether he waived his right to assert it.", "paragraph_id": "para_2290" }, { "text": "In sum, Carroll 3 correctly held that presidential immunity is waivable and", "paragraph_id": "para_2291" }, { "text": "that Trump waived it here. The dissent points to no change in controlling law on", "paragraph_id": "para_2292" }, { "text": "waiver that renders Carroll 3 inapplicable law of the case.", "paragraph_id": "para_2293" }, { "text": "B. The jury's punitive damages award was correct.", "paragraph_id": "para_2294" }, { "text": "The only other argument Trump raises in his petition is that the $65", "paragraph_id": "para_2295" }, { "text": "million punitive damages award in this case -- representing about a 3.6:1 ratio to the", "paragraph_id": "para_2296" }, { "text": "$18.3 million total compensatory award -- was grossly excessive. See Trump Petition at", "paragraph_id": "para_2297" }, { "text": "16. Trump and the dissent argue that the award violates due process under our", "paragraph_id": "para_2298" }, { "text": "decision in Turley v. ISG Lackawanna, Inc., 774 F.3d 140 (2d Cir. 2014). Trump Petition at", "paragraph_id": "para_2299" }, { "text": "17; Dissent at 49-50. It does not.", "paragraph_id": "para_2300" }, { "text": "Nowhere in Turley did we pronounce a \"rule\" that \"no more than an", "paragraph_id": "para_2301" }, { "text": "27", "paragraph_id": "para_2302" }, { "text": "amount of punitive damages 'equal to compensatory damages' could follow.\" Dissent", "paragraph_id": "para_2303" }, { "text": "at 51 (quoting Turley, 774 F.3d at 165). In fact, we affirmed a 2:1 ratio of punitive to", "paragraph_id": "para_2304" }, { "text": "compensatory damages in Turley itself, while reasoning that awards of a ratio lower", "paragraph_id": "para_2305" }, { "text": "than 4:1 generally do not violate due process in other types of cases. See 774 F.3d at", "paragraph_id": "para_2306" }, { "text": "165-66; see also State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Campbell, 538 U.S. 408, 425 (2003). We", "paragraph_id": "para_2307" }, { "text": "explained that a lower ratio for cases like Turley -- which involved a Title VII hostile", "paragraph_id": "para_2308" }, { "text": "work environment claim -- was appropriate because the award for emotional damages", "paragraph_id": "para_2309" }, { "text": "was \"imprecise because of the nature of the injury,\" and because the overall award was", "paragraph_id": "para_2310" }, { "text": "\"high when compared with similar cases.\" 774 F.3d at 165.", "paragraph_id": "para_2311" }, { "text": "This is not a hostile work environment case, but instead one for", "paragraph_id": "para_2312" }, { "text": "defamation arising out of sexual abuse. And Carroll's injuries are not \"imprecise\" like", "paragraph_id": "para_2313" }, { "text": "the intangible emotional damages in Turley. Instead, these compensatory damages were", "paragraph_id": "para_2314" }, { "text": "quantified based on extensive testimony about the loss of Carroll's career at Elle and", "paragraph_id": "para_2315" }, { "text": "other sources of income, and the concrete cost of rehabilitating her reputation. Carroll 6,", "paragraph_id": "para_2316" }, { "text": "151 F.4th at 64. Beyond labeling the comparator cases to which our decision cites as", "paragraph_id": "para_2317" }, { "text": "\"highly idiosyncratic,\" Dissent at 53, the dissent does not point to any basis for ignoring", "paragraph_id": "para_2318" }, { "text": "them, especially when the Supreme Court has noted our history of \"providing for", "paragraph_id": "para_2319" }, { "text": "sanctions of double, treble, or quadruple damages to deter and punish.\" State Farm, 538", "paragraph_id": "para_2320" }, { "text": "U.S. at 425.", "paragraph_id": "para_2321" }, { "text": "28", "paragraph_id": "para_2322" }, { "text": "Critically, \"the most important indicium\" of a punitive damages award's", "paragraph_id": "para_2323" }, { "text": "reasonableness is \"the degree of reprehensibility of the defendant's conduct.\" BMW of", "paragraph_id": "para_2324" }, { "text": "N. Am., Inc. v. Gore, 517 U.S. 559, 575 (1996); accord Dissent at 51. The dissent", "paragraph_id": "para_2325" }, { "text": "characterizes Trump's conduct as merely statements \"respond[ing] to an accusation that", "paragraph_id": "para_2326" }, { "text": "Carroll published,\" to which \"no reasonable person could have expected anything other", "paragraph_id": "para_2327" }, { "text": "than a vehement denial.\" Dissent at 52 (emphasis in original). But as detailed in Carroll", "paragraph_id": "para_2328" }, { "text": "6, the record showed that Trump made multiple statements over many years accusing", "paragraph_id": "para_2329" }, { "text": "Carroll of lying for political and financial gain, and suggesting that Carroll was too", "paragraph_id": "para_2330" }, { "text": "unattractive for Trump to have sexually assaulted her. 151 F.4th at 83. As a result of", "paragraph_id": "para_2331" }, { "text": "Trump's statements, Carroll was harassed and humiliated, subjected to death threats,", "paragraph_id": "para_2332" }, { "text": "and feared for her physical safety for years. Id. And Trump showed no remorse,", "paragraph_id": "para_2333" }, { "text": "continuing his attacks against Carroll during and after two federal trials, and even", "paragraph_id": "para_2334" }, { "text": "proclaiming two days into the Carroll I trial that he would continue to defame her \"a", "paragraph_id": "para_2335" }, { "text": "thousand times.\" Id. at 84. Together, this conduct went far beyond a \"vehement denial.\"", "paragraph_id": "para_2336" }, { "text": "C. The district court's summary judgment rulings were correct.", "paragraph_id": "para_2337" }, { "text": "Trump's petition for rehearing ended there, but the dissent further", "paragraph_id": "para_2338" }, { "text": "critiques each remaining aspect of our decision in Carroll 6. I address these briefly in", "paragraph_id": "para_2339" }, { "text": "turn.", "paragraph_id": "para_2340" }, { "text": "After the jury in Carroll II found that Trump had sexually abused Carroll", "paragraph_id": "para_2341" }, { "text": "in 1996 and had defamed her in his 2022 statement, the district court granted partial", "paragraph_id": "para_2342" }, { "text": "29", "paragraph_id": "para_2343" }, { "text": "summary judgment for Carroll in Carroll I on the liability elements of her defamation", "paragraph_id": "para_2344" }, { "text": "claim -- namely, that Trump's 2019 statements were (a) false and (b) made with actual", "paragraph_id": "para_2345" }, { "text": "malice. See Carroll 6, 151 F.4th at 68.", "paragraph_id": "para_2346" }, { "text": "On falsity, the district court held that Trump was collaterally estopped", "paragraph_id": "para_2347" }, { "text": "from relitigating the falsity of his statements based on the jury's findings in Carroll II.", "paragraph_id": "para_2348" }, { "text": "The jury in Carroll II was given a special verdict form and asked to decide among three", "paragraph_id": "para_2349" }, { "text": "theories of liability: whether Trump (1) raped, (2) sexually abused, or (3) forcibly", "paragraph_id": "para_2350" }, { "text": "touched Carroll. Id. It answered no to (1) but yes to (2). Id. Trump did not request a", "paragraph_id": "para_2351" }, { "text": "special finding from the jury on the specific sexual conduct constituting \"sexual abuse,\"", "paragraph_id": "para_2352" }, { "text": "thereby permitting the district court to make that determination pursuant to Rule", "paragraph_id": "para_2353" }, { "text": "49(a)(3). Id. Accordingly, when Trump moved for remittitur, the district court held that", "paragraph_id": "para_2354" }, { "text": "the jury implicitly found that Trump had digitally penetrated Carroll, and made the", "paragraph_id": "para_2355" }, { "text": "same finding itself in the alternative -- a conclusion that was well-supported by the", "paragraph_id": "para_2356" }, { "text": "record in this respect. See id. at 69-71. Contrary to the dissent's contention, we are", "paragraph_id": "para_2357" }, { "text": "permitted to treat a district court's Rule 49 findings in the same manner as typical", "paragraph_id": "para_2358" }, { "text": "findings of fact subject to clear error review. See Roberts v. Karimi, 251 F.3d 404, 407-08", "paragraph_id": "para_2359" }, { "text": "(2d Cir. 2001). There was therefore nothing improper about according this finding", "paragraph_id": "para_2360" }, { "text": "preclusive effect.", "paragraph_id": "para_2361" }, { "text": "Moreover, the dissent does not actually dispute the reasoning behind our", "paragraph_id": "para_2362" }, { "text": "holding -- that Trump was precluded from relitigating the falsity of the 2019 statements", "paragraph_id": "para_2363" }, { "text": "30", "paragraph_id": "para_2364" }, { "text": "because their truth or falsity did not turn on the specific sexual act Trump committed.", "paragraph_id": "para_2365" }, { "text": "As Carroll 6 explains, the truth or falsity of both the 2019 and 2022 statements depended", "paragraph_id": "para_2366" }, { "text": "on whether Carroll was lying about being sexually abused by Trump in 1996, not how", "paragraph_id": "para_2367" }, { "text": "he abused her. 151 F.4th at 69.18 There is no question that the Carroll II jury found that", "paragraph_id": "para_2368" }, { "text": "Trump's 2022 statements about not knowing or sexually abusing Carroll were false.", "paragraph_id": "para_2369" }, { "text": "Accordingly, the 2019 statements -- including that he \"never met [Carroll] in [his] life\"", "paragraph_id": "para_2370" }, { "text": "and that the abuse \"never happened\" -- were equally false. Id. at 69 & n.14.", "paragraph_id": "para_2371" }, { "text": "On actual malice, the district court held that even if Trump were not", "paragraph_id": "para_2372" }, { "text": "precluded from relitigating actual malice, Carroll was still entitled to summary", "paragraph_id": "para_2373" }, { "text": "judgment because Trump failed to raise a triable issue of fact as to whether he knew", "paragraph_id": "para_2374" }, { "text": "that his 2019 statements were false or acted with reckless disregard to their truth or", "paragraph_id": "para_2375" }, { "text": "falsity. Id. at 71. Trump failed to challenge this alternative holding on appeal, and as", "paragraph_id": "para_2376" }, { "text": "noted in our opinion, that fact alone merited affirmance. Id. Nonetheless, Carroll 6 went", "paragraph_id": "para_2377" }, { "text": "on to conclude that Trump had indeed raised no genuine issue of material fact as to", "paragraph_id": "para_2378" }, { "text": "actual malice. Id. Although the dissent chides this as \"not a fair judicial proceeding,\"", "paragraph_id": "para_2379" }, { "text": "18 In the 2019 statements, Trump said: \"I've never met [Carroll] in my life,\" \"[s]hame on", "paragraph_id": "para_2380" }, { "text": "those who make up false stories of assault to try to get publicity for themselves,\" \"I would like to", "paragraph_id": "para_2381" }, { "text": "thank Bergdorf Goodman for confirming that they have no video footage of any such incident,", "paragraph_id": "para_2382" }, { "text": "because it never happened,\" and \"[f]alse accusations diminish the severity of real assault.\"", "paragraph_id": "para_2383" }, { "text": "Carroll 6, 151 F.4th at 69 n.14 (citation modified). In the 2022 statement, Trump said: \"She", "paragraph_id": "para_2384" }, { "text": "completely made up a story that I met her . . . and, within minutes, 'swooned' her. It is a Hoax", "paragraph_id": "para_2385" }, { "text": "and a lie,\" \"it never happened,\" and \"for the record, E. Jean Carroll is not telling the truth, is a", "paragraph_id": "para_2386" }, { "text": "woman who I had nothing to do with, didn't know, and would have no interest in knowing her", "paragraph_id": "para_2387" }, { "text": "if I ever had the chance.\" Id.", "paragraph_id": "para_2388" }, { "text": "31", "paragraph_id": "para_2389" }, { "text": "Dissent at 40, it also fails to point to any disputed facts on this issue. Indeed, given the", "paragraph_id": "para_2390" }, { "text": "preclusive effect of the first jury's finding that Trump did sexually abuse Carroll, there", "paragraph_id": "para_2391" }, { "text": "is abundant evidence of actual malice here.19", "paragraph_id": "para_2392" }, { "text": "On this record, a reasonable juror could only conclude that Trump made", "paragraph_id": "para_2393" }, { "text": "his statements about Carroll knowing they were false or with reckless disregard of their", "paragraph_id": "para_2394" }, { "text": "truth or falsity. See Celle v. Filipino Rep. Enters. Inc., 209 F.3d 163, 182 (2d Cir. 2000).", "paragraph_id": "para_2395" }, { "text": "D. The remaining challenges to the jury's damages award are meritless.", "paragraph_id": "para_2396" }, { "text": "The dissent further challenges two additional elements of the jury's", "paragraph_id": "para_2397" }, { "text": "damages award not raised in the petition for rehearing.", "paragraph_id": "para_2398" }, { "text": "First, the panel opinion explains why punitive damages awarded here", "paragraph_id": "para_2399" }, { "text": "were permitted under New York law. Just as Trump did initially on appeal, the dissent", "paragraph_id": "para_2400" }, { "text": "conflates the role of common law malice for purposes of recovering punitive damages", "paragraph_id": "para_2401" }, { "text": "and for overcoming a qualified or conditional privilege under New York law. See", "paragraph_id": "para_2402" }, { "text": "Dissent at 41-45. There are two distinct concepts at play. New York law recognizes", "paragraph_id": "para_2403" }, { "text": "certain qualified privileges when it comes to defamation that can be overcome if", "paragraph_id": "para_2404" }, { "text": "19 Over the course of six years, Trump called Carroll's allegations \"a Hoax and a lie\" and", "paragraph_id": "para_2405" }, { "text": "suggested that it was made up \"for the sake of publicity,\" said he had \"never met [Carroll] in", "paragraph_id": "para_2406" }, { "text": "[his] life\" despite there being a photo of them together in the 1980s, labeled this case \"a complete", "paragraph_id": "para_2407" }, { "text": "con job,\" accused Carroll of being \"very deranged\" and a \"wack job,\" and vowed to \"sue her\"", "paragraph_id": "para_2408" }, { "text": "during a deposition in this very case. Carroll 6, 151 F.4th at 60, 63, 69 n.14, 72 n.20. He", "paragraph_id": "para_2409" }, { "text": "repeatedly disparaged Carroll leading up to and during both trials, called the case a \"witch", "paragraph_id": "para_2410" }, { "text": "hunt\" and a \"con job\" within earshot of the jury, and walked out of the courtroom during", "paragraph_id": "para_2411" }, { "text": "Carroll's summation. Id. at 65.", "paragraph_id": "para_2412" }, { "text": "32", "paragraph_id": "para_2413" }, { "text": "common law malice was \"the one and only cause for the publication.\" Liberman v.", "paragraph_id": "para_2414" }, { "text": "Gelstein, 605 N.E.2d 344, 350 (N.Y. 1992) (citation modified). This is not true for punitive", "paragraph_id": "para_2415" }, { "text": "damages, the purpose of which is to \"punish a person for outrageous conduct which is", "paragraph_id": "para_2416" }, { "text": "malicious, wanton, reckless, or in willful disregard for another's rights.\" Prozeralik v.", "paragraph_id": "para_2417" }, { "text": "Cap. Cities Commc'ns, Inc., 626 N.E.2d 34, 42 (N.Y. 1993) (citation modified). As Carroll 6", "paragraph_id": "para_2418" }, { "text": "explains, New York law does not import the \"sole motivation\" requirement for", "paragraph_id": "para_2419" }, { "text": "overcoming a qualified privilege into the punitive damages context. See 151 F.4th at 76", "paragraph_id": "para_2420" }, { "text": "(citation modified); Prozeralik, 626 N.E.2d at 42 (explaining that punitive damages are", "paragraph_id": "para_2421" }, { "text": "allowed when behavior \"measure[s] up to the level of outrage or malice underlying the", "paragraph_id": "para_2422" }, { "text": "public policy\"); N.Y. Pattern Jury Instr. -- Civil 3:30 (2024) (containing no \"sole", "paragraph_id": "para_2423" }, { "text": "motivation\" requirement for punitive damages). Our decision also addressed how the", "paragraph_id": "para_2424" }, { "text": "case on which the dissent relies made this very mistake and was acknowledged to be an", "paragraph_id": "para_2425" }, { "text": "outlier by New York authorities. See Dissent at 42 n.38; Carroll 6, 151 F.4th at 76-77 &", "paragraph_id": "para_2426" }, { "text": "n.28 (discussing Morsette v. \"The Final Call,\" 764 N.Y.S.2d 416 (1st Dep't 2003)). The", "paragraph_id": "para_2427" }, { "text": "dissent's repeated invocations of Liberman and other cases about qualified privilege do", "paragraph_id": "para_2428" }, { "text": "not change the fact that punitive damages here were permitted under New York law.20", "paragraph_id": "para_2429" }, { "text": "20 The dissent also contends that the district court erred in its punitive damages instruction", "paragraph_id": "para_2430" }, { "text": "because Trump's statements were protected by the qualified privilege of reply under New York", "paragraph_id": "para_2431" }, { "text": "law. See Dissent at 40-45. Trump waived this argument by failing to assert it as an affirmative", "paragraph_id": "para_2432" }, { "text": "defense below, see Carroll v. Trump, 680 F. Supp. 3d 491, 517 n.103 (S.D.N.Y. 2023) (\"[Trump's]", "paragraph_id": "para_2433" }, { "text": "argument [regarding the qualified privilege of reply] arguably has been waived because it was", "paragraph_id": "para_2434" }, { "text": "not raised in his answer . . . .\"), and by failing to pursue the issue on appeal or in his petition for", "paragraph_id": "para_2435" }, { "text": "rehearing en banc. In any event, the question of whether Trump's remarks were privileged", "paragraph_id": "para_2436" }, { "text": "33", "paragraph_id": "para_2437" }, { "text": "Second, the compensatory damages awarded in this case were not", "paragraph_id": "para_2438" }, { "text": "duplicative. The Carroll I jury was asked to quantify two distinct categories of damages.", "paragraph_id": "para_2439" }, { "text": "The first category was damages that Carroll suffered because of the defamatory", "paragraph_id": "para_2440" }, { "text": "statements, including her \"humiliation and mental anguish,\" loss of her career at Elle", "paragraph_id": "para_2441" }, { "text": "and other sources of income, and ongoing economic injury, excluding the costs of the", "paragraph_id": "para_2442" }, { "text": "reputation repair program. Carroll 6, 151 F.4th at 79-80. The second was the cost of the", "paragraph_id": "para_2443" }, { "text": "reputation repair program itself -- i.e., compensatory damages required to fix the", "paragraph_id": "para_2444" }, { "text": "damage Trump caused to Carroll's reputation. Id. As we noted, the latter costs \"are", "paragraph_id": "para_2445" }, { "text": "distinct from the other damages that flowed from the reputational harm.\" Id. at 81. The", "paragraph_id": "para_2446" }, { "text": "dissent fails to acknowledge that the district court instructed the jury that it could \"not", "paragraph_id": "para_2447" }, { "text": "award compensatory damages more than once for the same injury,\" id. (citation", "paragraph_id": "para_2448" }, { "text": "modified), an instruction we \"presume[]\" the jury followed. United States v. Salameh, 152", "paragraph_id": "para_2449" }, { "text": "F.3d 88, 116 (2d Cir. 1998) (citation modified).", "paragraph_id": "para_2450" }, { "text": "CONCLUSION", "paragraph_id": "para_2451" }, { "text": "These two per curiam decisions mark the due conclusion of two related", "paragraph_id": "para_2452" }, { "text": "cases that have been litigated in our Circuit for over six years. Neither Trump nor the", "paragraph_id": "para_2453" }, { "text": "Government identified any rulings by the panel that, upon review, conflict with", "paragraph_id": "para_2454" }, { "text": "under New York law is irrelevant to the standard for awarding punitive damages, which, as", "paragraph_id": "para_2455" }, { "text": "explained in Carroll 6 and again above, may be awarded without a \"sole motivation\" finding.", "paragraph_id": "para_2456" }, { "text": "34", "paragraph_id": "para_2457" }, { "text": "precedent from our Circuit, another Circuit, or the Supreme Court, or raise questions of", "paragraph_id": "para_2458" }, { "text": "exceptional importance. To the extent the dissent goes further than the relevant parties", "paragraph_id": "para_2459" }, { "text": "did in critiquing our rulings, we appropriately declined to expend our collective judicial", "paragraph_id": "para_2460" }, { "text": "resources to review them. 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