In a repeated rejection of U.S. President Donald Trump’s appeal, the United States Supreme Court declined on Monday to review a $5 million US judgment in favor of E. Jean Carroll, following a jury’s ruling holding Trump accountable for sexual abuse and defamation of the former magazine columnist. Trump’s legal team argued that the trial was unjust, but the justices dismissed his plea to reconsider their prior decision from June refusing his appeal of the 2023 jury verdict linked to allegations of assault in a Manhattan store in the 1990s.
The Supreme Court’s order, issued without explanation, is uncommon as the court seldom entertains requests for reconsideration. Meanwhile, the justices are also deliberating Trump’s challenge of a separate $83.3 million US defamation verdict from 2019, during his first term as president, where he disputed the claims made by Carroll.
Trump’s attorneys maintain that presidential immunity shields him against Carroll’s allegations and assert that lower courts erred in ruling that he relinquished that defense. The ongoing legal battle between Trump and Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, began when she accused Trump of raping her in a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s.
In a case related to the $5 million US verdict, the jury found Trump guilty of sexually abusing and defaming Carroll based on his comments in 2022 dismissing her accusations as a “hoax” and a “con job” on social media. However, the jury did not support Carroll’s claim of rape. Following the Supreme Court’s rejection of Trump’s appeal in June, Carroll received nearly $5.63 million US from Trump, including the original civil verdict amount plus interest.
Trump’s legal team highlighted the potential impact of the issue of presidential immunity on the $83.3 million US verdict from 2024, which the Supreme Court could consider. Notably, a landmark 2024 Supreme Court ruling established full immunity for former presidents from criminal prosecution for actions taken during their presidency, a ruling that has relevance in the ongoing civil lawsuits involving Carroll and Trump.