Full story
Carroll verdict challenged
President Donald Trump and the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to toss an $83 million defamation verdict won by writer E. Jean Carroll, arguing he cannot be sued for comments he made while he was president.
“Trump urged the Supreme Court to once again step into his messy legal brawl with magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll”
The appeal targets a jury award of $83.3 million for defamation tied to statements Trump made in 2019, and Trump’s lawyers told the high court that “This is the first case in our nation’s history in which a court has imposed damages liability on a president for his conduct in office.”
Trump’s filing also argues that the Second Circuit did not decide whether presidential immunity applies to the allegedly defamatory statements, and it seeks review of whether the United States government should be the defendant rather than the president.
The Justice Department urged the Supreme Court to intervene under the Westfall Act, which shields government employees from being sued for doing their jobs, and federal attorneys wrote that “Absent this Court’s intervention, the sitting President is facing nearly a hundred million dollars of personal liability.”
Immunity and procedural fights
Trump’s lawyers argued that the Second Circuit in Manhattan avoided addressing presidential immunity by relying on procedural issues, and they said the appeals court “engaged in procedural contortions” to avoid the immunity question.
In a separate argument, Trump’s attorneys contended that the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision granting presidential immunity should require overturning the $83.3 million award, and they warned that a ruling for Carroll would “cause significant damage, not only to this president and future presidents” but also the nation.
The dispute is part of a broader legal fight over Carroll’s allegations, with the Supreme Court having declined in June to hear Trump’s appeal of another verdict for $5 million that found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation.
Carroll’s lawyers declined to comment on the latest filing, while the Supreme Court’s summer recess schedule means the justices would not consider the appeal until the fall, according to CNN’s account.
Westfall Act could shift liability
Alongside the immunity argument, the Justice Department urged the Supreme Court to allow the federal government to substitute itself as the defendant under the Westfall Act, which would effectively end Carroll’s defamation case because the United States cannot be sued for defamation.
“Trump’s lawyers argued Tuesday that under the Westfall Act, a federal statute that protects government employees from certain lawsuits”
CNN reported that Trump’s lawyers also asked the court to review whether the United States government should be the defendant rather than the president, and it described the Westfall Act as a mechanism that could shift responsibility away from Trump.
The stakes are tied to the Supreme Court’s handling of related Carroll matters, including the Supreme Court’s June refusal to take up Trump’s appeal of the $5 million verdict and the fact that Carroll has already received the $5 million award.
If the Supreme Court agrees to hear the $83.3 million case, CNN said it would not likely issue a decision until next June, while the Hill reported that the justices were set to consider the requests at a closed-door meeting after returning from summer recess.
