The Justice Department on Tuesday said it will no longer defend former President Trump as being immune in writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit.

The DOJ had previously certified that Trump was acting in the scope of his employment as president when he made allegedly defamatory statements denying Carroll’s account that Trump sexually assaulted her in the mid-1990s.

But now, the department is reversing its position, leaving Trump on the hook for any potential damages.

DOJ cited the legal battle that ensued as to whether their original certification was proper, which held up the case for months. It bounced between multiple courts in New York and Washington, D.C., ending with no clear resolution.

Citing the recent rulings, DOJ wrote it “has determined that it lacks adequate evidence to conclude that the former President was sufficiently actuated by a purpose to serve the United States Government to support a determination that he was acting within the scope of his employment when he denied sexually assaulting Ms. Carroll and made the other statements regarding Ms. Carroll that she has challenged in this action.”

Carroll’s other lawsuit went to trial in May, in which a jury found Trump liable in May for sexually abusing the longtime advice columnist and later defaming her by denying her story. Those claims did not involve Trump’s time as president, so they were not held up by the immunity issues.

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