Supreme Court Denies Trump’s Appeal in Carroll Case

On Monday, the Supreme Court of the United States declined to hear President Donald Trump’s appeal regarding a New York jury’s $5 million verdict that found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation against former columnist E. Jean Carroll from the mid-1990s.

The civil judgment remains intact after the Court’s decision, despite Trump’s claims that he has never met Carroll and his characterization of the lawsuit against Truth Social as a “sham case.”

This lawsuit originated from Carroll’s allegation that Trump sexually assaulted her in a department store dressing room in Manhattan during the 1990s and subsequently defamed her. Additionally, in a different federal trial in Manhattan in 2024, a jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million for defamation related to remarks Trump made while in office. This is just one of the two rulings Trump is appealing in a lower court.

As is customary, the justices did not provide an explanation for their refusal to reconsider the case. Trump’s legal team contended that the original judgment was affected by a “highly inflammatory” evidentiary ruling.

Trump has persistently denied the accusations. His attorneys also mentioned that ongoing litigation is disrupting current law enforcement activities.

“This abuse of the president cannot go unchecked,” argued attorney Justin D. Smith in court documents.

Carroll, now 82 and a former advice columnist, testified during the 2023 trial, claiming that Trump transformed a brief encounter in the spring of 1996 into a “violent” sexual assault in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury store near Trump Tower in Manhattan.

“Surprisingly, the Supreme Court has refused to ‘review’ a bogus lawsuit brought against me by a woman I have never met (standing with her husband in a celebrity photo line from decades ago doesn’t count!). I will continue to fight tooth and nail against this weapon and court case against me, including the ridiculous claims of defamation,” Trump stated. “This lawsuit is against the very United States of America and everything it stands for, and it should never be allowed to happen to any other president or candidate! The state of New York enacted a law from decades ago for a split second to wrongfully ‘capture’ me. It is custom-made, and we cannot allow this injustice to continue! Thank you for your attention to this issue.”