一家联邦上诉法院周二做出裁决，可能会推迟一名前杂志专栏作家对前总统唐纳德·特朗普的诽谤诉讼。

美国第二巡回上诉法院推翻了早些时候地方法院的一项裁决，该裁决称美国政府不能特朗普的替代品作为e .简.卡罗尔提起的诉讼的被告。

卡罗尔是《Elle》的前专栏作家，她说她保留了特朗普涉嫌在20世纪90年代在波道夫古德曼的更衣室性侵犯她的那天穿的裙子，他否认了这一说法。她2019年11月起诉他在他通过质疑她的可信度和贬低她的个人外貌否认强奸她之后。审判原定于2月进行。

特朗普表示，当他否认她的说法时，他是以总统的身份行事，因此根据《威斯特法尔法案》(Westfall Act)免受卡罗尔的诉讼，该法案保护联邦雇员免于个人责任。

地区法院表示，特朗普不是该法案定义的政府雇员，无论如何，当他涉嫌诽谤卡罗尔时，他没有在自己的雇佣范围内行事。

在推翻和撤销该决定时，上诉法院表示，美国总统的角色“完全符合”法规，但没有触及他否认卡罗尔指控的公开声明是否发生在他的就业范围内的问题。

“从最基本的意义上来说，总统是政府雇员:他为他的雇主美国政府提供服务，以换取薪水和其他与工作相关的福利，”该意见称。

在一份回应声明中，卡罗尔的律师罗伯塔·卡普兰(Roberta Kaplan)指出了丹尼·陈(Denny Chin)法官的不同意见:“正如第二巡回法院唯一一位获得案情实质的法官陈在他强有力的意见中解释的那样，唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)在诽谤我们的客户让·卡罗尔(E. Jean Carroll)时，没有在他作为总统的职责范围内行事，因为他没有为联邦政府的任何目的服务，也因为人们不会期望美国总统在履行职责的过程中说‘她不是我喜欢的类型’这样的话。”

特朗普的律师Alina Habba在一份声明中说，“我们对第二巡回法院今天推翻和撤销地区法院在这件事上的裁决感到非常高兴。这一决定将保护所有未来总统不受阻碍地有效治理的能力。”

然而，第二巡回法院推迟了特朗普否认卡罗尔性侵指控的言论是否发生在他的就业范围内以及政府是否有权在审判中代替他的问题。相反，法院要求特区上诉法院作出判决，因为这个问题取决于该法院对就业法的解释。

哈巴和卡普兰都表示，他们“有信心”华盛顿上诉法院会同意他们各自的观点。

卡罗尔此前宣布，她打算根据纽约州的《成年幸存者法》在州法院起诉特朗普殴打和故意施加精神痛苦，该法最近由州长凯西·霍楚尔签署，规定成年原告从11月24日起有一年的时间提起诉讼，无论所谓的性行为不端发生在何时。

E. Jean Carroll's suit against Trump complicated with new ruling

A federal appeals court issued a ruling Tuesday that could delay a former magazine columnist's defamation lawsuit against former President Donald Trump.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned an earlier district court decision that said the United States government could notsubstitute for Trumpas a defendant in the lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll.

Carroll, a former columnist at Elle, has said she kept the dress she wore the day Trump allegedly sexually assaulted her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman in the 1990s, a claim he has denied. Shesued him in November 2019after he denied raping her by questioning her credibility and demeaning her personal appearance. Trial had been scheduled for February.

Trump said he was acting in his capacity as president when he denied her claim and therefore was immune from Carroll's lawsuit under the Westfall Act, which shields federal employees from personal liability.

The district court said Trump was not an employee of the government as defined in the act and, regardless, had not acted within the scope of his employment when he allegedly defamed Carroll.

In reversing and vacating the decision, the appellate court said the president of the United States role "fits comfortably" within the statute, but did not reach the question of whether his public statements denying Carroll’s allegations occurred within the scope of his employment.

"President is a government employee in the most basic sense of the term: He renders service to his employer, the United States government, in exchange for a salary and other job-related benefits," the opinion said.

In a responding statement, Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, pointed to the dissenting opinion from Judge Denny Chin: "As Judge Chin, the only 2nd Circuit judge to reach the merits, explained in his powerful opinion, Donald Trump was not acting within the scope of his duties as president when he defamed our client, E. Jean Carroll because he was not serving any purpose of the federal government and because the comment 'she's not my type' is not something one would expect the president of the United States to say in the course of his duties."

Alina Habba, an attorney for Trump, said in a statement, "We are extremely pleased with the 2nd Circuit's decision today in reversing and vacating the District Court's finding in this matter. This decision will protect the ability of all future presidents to effectively govern without hindrance."

The 2nd Circuit, however, deferred the question of whether Trump's statements denying Carroll's sexual assault allegations occurred within the scope of his employment and whether the government is entitled to substitute for him at trial. Instead, the court asked the D.C. Court of Appeals to render a judgment because the question depends on that court's interpretation of employment law.

Both Habba and Kaplan said they were "confident" the D.C. Court of Appeals would agree with their respective sides.

Carroll previously announced her intention to sue Trump in state court for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress under New York state's Adult Survivors Act, a law recently signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul that gives adult accusers a year from Nov. 24 to bring claims regardless of when the alleged sexual misconduct happened.