Trump asks Supreme Court to overturn verdict in E Jean Carroll sexual abuse, defamation case
In his Supreme Court appeal, Trump’s lawyers argued that Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the civil trial, made several mistakes.
US President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to overturn the $5 million civil verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming magazine columnist E Jean Carroll, reports CNN.
A federal appeals court last year upheld the jury's verdict and the $5 million award, ruling that the trial judge had not made any errors warranting a new trial. In June, Trump's bid to have the full appeals court review the decision was also rejected.
In his Supreme Court appeal, Trump's lawyers argued that Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the civil trial, made several mistakes — most notably by allowing jurors to hear testimony from two other women who accused Trump of sexual assault and by admitting the "Access Hollywood tape," a 2005 recording in which Trump boasted about groping and kissing women without consent.
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Carroll alleged that Trump sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s and later defamed her in 2019 when he denied the assault, claimed she was "not his type," and accused her of fabricating the story to sell books.
"There were no eyewitnesses, no video evidence, and no police report or investigation," Trump said in the appeal, according to a filing obtained by CNN. "Instead, Carroll waited more than 20 years to falsely accuse Donald Trump — whom she politically opposes — only after he became the 45th president, when she could maximise political harm and personal profit."
The case has not yet been formally docketed at the Supreme Court. It remains unclear whether the justices will agree to hear it, but the dispute is unlikely to be the last between Trump and Carroll to reach the nation's highest court.
In a separate case, a different jury found Trump liable for defaming Carroll again in 2022 and ordered him to pay $83 million in damages. A federal appeals court upheld that award, calling it "reasonable in light of the extraordinary and egregious facts," and rejected Trump's legal challenges. The court also noted that Trump had waived any claim to presidential immunity and that a recent Supreme Court decision on criminal immunity did not alter that conclusion.
Trump has since requested that the full appeals court review the $83 million case. The US Justice Department has filed an amicus brief supporting review of whether presidential immunity can be waived in civil cases involving official acts. Carroll's legal response is expected in the coming weeks.
