'A new low': CNN's Elie Honig buries DOJ's 'grotesque' defense of Trump in civil defamation lawsuit

Former federal prosecutor Elie Honig on Wednesday delivered a scathing rebuke to the United States Department of Justice for working to defend President Donald Trump in a civil defamation lawsuit filed by a woman who has accused him of sexual assault.

During an interview on CNN, Honig said it was shocking to see the president using the taxpayer-funded DOJ, rather than his own personal attorneys, to defend himself against a lawsuit brought by sexual assault accuser E. Jean Carroll.

"This is just a new low, and a particularly grotesque one," he said.

Honig went on to explain that the DOJ will typically step in to defend the president if he is sued for something he does as part of his official duties as president.

However, he said that Barr appears to have expanded the scope of the DOJ's defense of the president to include actions that have traditionally been outside the scope of official duties.

"What Bill Barr and the DOJ and the president have decided is getting accused of rape, denying that rape, attacking the accuser, and getting sued, that's just part of the job of being president," he said. "And as a result, John, as you said, guess who's picking up the tab? All of our viewers, you, Alisyn, me, this one's on the taxpayers now."

Watch the video below.