US Supreme Court rejects Trump appeal in Carroll case

The US Supreme Court on Monday (August 17) rejected Donald Trump’s bid to overturn a $5 million civil verdict in writer E. Jean Carroll’s sexual abuse and defamation case, leaving the jury’s unanimous finding against the US president intact.

Trump’s lawyers had asked the court to consider whether presidential immunity protected him from liability. The justices rejected that request along with several related petitions, effectively ending his challenge to the damages awarded to Carroll in the case.

Carroll accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in the mid-1990s at a luxury department store in New York. A federal jury in 2023 found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation and awarded Carroll $5 million in damages. Trump has consistently denied the allegations.

The Supreme Court has yet to rule on a separate appeal involving an $83 million defamation judgment against Trump over comments he made about Carroll in 2019. Trump and the US Justice Department have asked the court to overturn that award.

Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, welcomed Monday’s decision, saying it makes the jury’s finding that Trump sexually abused and defamed Carroll final.