Trump Enlists Justice Department to Try to Kill E. Jean Carroll Win |
Trump Enlists Justice Department to Try to Kill E. Jean Carroll Win
Trump is using the DOJ as his personal lawyers to get out of paying E. Jean Carroll the millions he owes.
President Trump has enlisted the Justice Department to help him appeal the $83.3 million defamation judgment he owes former Elle magazine advice columnist E. Jean Carroll.
The DOJ plans to ask the Supreme Court for the power to directly represent Trump in his appeal, arguing that he acted as a government employee when he first defamed Carroll in 2019. Instead of Trump v. Carroll, the case would become U.S. v. Carroll.
The DOJ plan was revealed in a filing from Trump’s personal lawyer in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, where Trump recently lost an appeal effort to avoid paying Carroll. Trump’s lawyers also posited that Trump’s presidential immunity and the apparent harm Carroll would cause with the money as reasons for the court to delay the payment. Carroll has said she’d donate the millions upon collection.
This is the federal government spending its time and your money to help the president with a personal lawsuit from the woman he was found liable of sexually abusing in 2023. This massive lack of independence and transparency would be a world-breaking scandal for any other president. For Trump, it’s just Tuesday.
The $83.3 million judgment remains.
FBI Raids Office of Top Democratic Leader in Redistricting Wars
Virginia’s L. Louise Lucas has been unafraid to stand up to Trump. Now, she’s become a target after a major victory.
The FBI raided the Portsmouth, Virginia, office of Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore L. Louise Lucas, a Democratic leader in the state behind its redistricting victory, on Wednesday, ostensibly over corruption allegations.
Lucas, an 82-year-old great-grandmother, has been a frequent critic of Republicans and President Trump, and is an ally to Virginia’s Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger. Fox News covered the FBI raid live.
NOW: An FBI raid is unfolding at the office of Virginia Democratic State Sen. Louise Lucas — and it’s already drawing serious attention.Multiple people on the scene are reportedly being taken into custody as agents move through the area.The office sits near several cannabis… pic.twitter.com/WIcn9xrzOy— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 6, 2026
NOW: An FBI raid is unfolding at the office of Virginia Democratic State Sen. Louise Lucas — and it’s already drawing serious attention.Multiple people on the scene are reportedly being taken into custody as agents move through the area.The office sits near several cannabis… pic.twitter.com/WIcn9xrzOy
The bureau reportedly has multiple search warrants, and is also raiding a cannabis dispensary co-owned by Lucas next door. Lucas has frequently advocated for marijuana legalization, and in 2022, her business was found by the Virginia Mercury to be selling delta-9 THC, a substance illegal to sell in Virginia, although many of the products in her store were found to be mislabeled.
Lucas is combative on social media, posting memes in support of Virginia’s redistricting effort and going toe-to-toe with Republicans like President Trump and Senator Ted Cruz. That could be why she’s being targeted by the FBI, which under director Kash Patel has vindictively pursued Trump’s critics.
This story has been updated.
Trump Insists His Ballroom’s Ballooning Price Tag Is Totally Fine
Donald Trump previously indicted Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over a similar issue.
President Donald Trump dismissed claims Wednesday that the White House ballroom has suffered cost overrun after its price tag skyrocketed from $400 million in private donations to $1 billion sourced from American taxpayers.
Trump claimed that there was no cost overrun because he’d previously announced that the cost of construction had gone up.
“The only reason the cost has changed is because, after deep rooted studies, it is approximately twice the size, and a far higher quality, than the original proposal, which would not have been adequate to handle the necessary events, meetings, and even future Inaugurations,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“This was a necessary change, it was done long ago, but the Fake News failed to report it, trying to make it look like there was a cost overrun. Actually, it is coming in ahead of schedule, and under budget!” Trump added.
Trump originally claimed that the project would only cost $200 million, but that number later ballooned to $300 million, and then $400 million after he decided to tack on extra construction. The ballroom had previously been paid for by private donors, many of whom held multi-figure federal contracts.
Then, earlier this week, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley requested $1 billion for “security adjustments and upgrades” related to the ballroom’s construction. Trump is simply pretending the outrage is over the old price tag, and not the exorbitant one Senate Republicans hope to pass, which will come at a cost to U.S. taxpayers.
Trump’s defense rings especially hollow, considering that the DOJ launched an investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over the cost of renovations to the Fed’s office buildings. The suit was a pretext to attack Powell as he tried to maintain the agency’s independence from the White House.
In March, Judge James Boasberg quashed subpoenas for the criminal case against Powell, finding that the........