Former President Donald Trump is appealing to the Supreme Court to reverse a jury’s civil lawsuit verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll, a former Elle columnist.
Trump’s legal team contends that the $5 million judgment was based on a series of “indefensible” decisions that allowed Carroll’s attorneys to introduce “highly inflammatory evidence” against him. According to Justin Smith, one of Trump’s lawyers, they maintain, “President Trump clearly and consistently denies that this supposed incident occurred.” He added that there was no physical evidence supporting Carroll’s claims—no witnesses, no video, and no police reports.
Carroll initially sued Trump after her 2019 book alleged that he raped her in a New York department store fitting room during the 1990s. Trump has consistently denied ever meeting her, claiming she wasn’t his “type” and suggesting that Carroll fabricated the story for publicity.
Trump’s attorneys have accused Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of misinterpreting federal evidence rules to support what they call Carroll’s “implausible” claims. They also argued that the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has misaligned itself with other federal courts regarding how those rules should be interpreted.
After trumpeting their decision to take the case to the Supreme Court, Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, expressed skepticism about the viability of Trump’s legal arguments being worthy of Supreme Court review.
In a broader context, a spokesperson for Trump’s team framed the Supreme Court appeal as part of a larger campaign against what they labeled “witch hunts,” specifically referencing what they termed “the Democratic Party-funded farce of the Carroll hoax.”
A three-judge panel reaffirmed the December 2024 ruling, dismissing Trump’s claims that Kaplan’s rulings negatively impacted the trial. Subsequently, a 2nd Circuit judge declined Trump’s request for a full court review, leaving him with two choices: abide by the verdict or pursue further appeals to the Supreme Court.
Trump didn’t attend the 2023 trial but gave brief testimony in a subsequent defamation case that concluded with a jury awarding Carroll an additional $83.3 million.
The Second Circuit upheld the jury’s damages as “fair and reasonable” on September 8, and Trump has since requested a comprehensive review of the decision by the entire appellate court.
