President Trump Asks Supreme Court to Review Carroll Case Against Him
U.S President Donald Trump is appealing to the Supreme Court in a last-ditch effort to overturn the $5 million verdict brought against him by E. Jean Carroll. Here is the latest on the carousel of court cases involving the Trump administration.
Supreme Court Asked to Review Judgment Against Trump
President Trump has asked the Supreme Court to review the $5 million jury award that he was ordered to pay to writer E. Jean Carroll after being found liable for sexual abuse and defamation in a 2023 court case. A spokesperson for the president's legal team confirmed on Tuesday that he is taking the case to the highest court in the land, asking the Supreme Court to review the verdict. The verdict was most recently upheld by an appeals court.
Trump's legal team is arguing that the president was the center of a Democratic "witch hunt." The president's attorneys have regularly said that the judgment is part of what they call "liberal lawfare" aimed at the Trump administration.
The 314-page court filing from Trump's team alleges that Carroll waited over 20 years to bring up the allegations, holding off on her accusations until the first time that Trump took office. The lengthy filing also details that Carroll's allegations match the plot of the television show "Law & Order," reportedly one of her favorite programs.
The filing goes on to point out that the president has consistently denied Carroll's reporting of the incident. Trump's attorneys argue that there is no physical or DNA evidence that supports Carroll's allegations, reminding the court that there have not been any eyewitnesses to come forward. Lastly, the filing states that there is no video evidence to corroborate Carroll's accusations, nor was there ever an official investigation or police report filed.
Long History of the Trump/Carroll Case
This particular case has been winding its way up the court system over the last few years. Most recently, an appeals court rejected the president's argument that there were procedural errors committed by the trial judge. This court ruled that Trump's team has not demonstrated that any of the claimed efforts impacted his rights to warrant that a new trial be held.
A separate panel of judges based out of the New York 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a different $83.3 million jury award levied against the president about comments that he made disputing the truth of Carroll's claims. This September decision was in alignment with the jury's ruling that Trump would continue to defame Carroll unless he was ordered to pay a significant amount of money.
This appeals court also turned down Trump's argument that he could not be sued on the grounds of a 2024 Supreme Court ruling that presidents have at least a presumption of immunity for acts taken while in the Oval Office.
Carroll has been adamant that Trump sexually assaulted her in 1996 when the two were together at a New York City department store. Trump accused her of lying about what happened in order to sell her book. Carroll then sued Trump for defamation, winning a whopping $83.3 million judgment.
The president then took to social media in 2022 to continue to deny the allegations. He was not president at the time of this post, meaning that he lost some of the immunity granted to him earlier. In addition, the first case was still ongoing.
Carroll responded by suing Trump once more under the umbrella of a special window of time granted to sexual abuse survivors by the state of New York. This is when the 2023 jury ruled in Carroll's favor, finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and awarding her the $5 million verdict.
It is not known whether the Supreme Court will take up the civil case. It should be noted that the original jury verdict was unanimous. How the court decides to proceed with this request is also likely to have an impact on the larger monetary verdict as well. This is because both cases surround similar legal issues.
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