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.