Full story
Supreme Court Rejects Again
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear President Donald Trump’s appeal seeking to overturn a $5-million US verdict for E. Jean Carroll, leaving the judgment in place after a jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming the former magazine columnist.
“declined on Monday to hear his appeal of a $5-million US verdict”
The justices rejected Trump’s request to revisit their June decision declining to hear his appeal of the 2023 jury verdict stemming from Carroll’s allegation that he raped her in the 1990s in a Manhattan department store’s dressing room.
The court’s order was unsigned and came with no explanation, and the Supreme Court rarely grants requests for reconsideration.
The case is civil, and the Supreme Court action on Monday did not resolve Trump’s separate legal battle over a separate $83.3-million US jury verdict for defaming Carroll in 2019 during his first term as president.
Lawyers React, Case Final
Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan said, “We are pleased that the United States supreme court has declined again to hear this case,” adding that “the jury’s unanimous verdict that Donald Trump sexually assaulted and then defamed E Jean Carroll is now final and cannot be challenged in any court.”
Trump’s legal team, in a statement carried by The Hill, said, “The American People stand with President Trump as they demand an immediate end to all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes,” and also claimed “President Trump will keep winning against Liberal Lawfare.”
The Guardian reported that the Supreme Court announced its Monday decision in an unsigned order listing Trump’s petition under “rehearings denied” without providing an explanation.
NBC News said Trump had already turned over the $5 million dollars, plus interest, after the Supreme Court declined to take up his appeal in June.
What’s at Stake Next
While the $5-million US civil judgment remains intact, the Supreme Court is still weighing Trump’s appeal of the separate $83.3-million US defamation verdict, which the sources describe as tied to statements Trump made about Carroll in 2019 during his first term as president.
“the justices also are weighing the Republican president's appeal ofa separate $83.3-million US jury verdict”
CBC reported that Trump’s lawyers argued in the $83.3-million US case that presidential immunity shields him from Carroll’s claims and that lower courts wrongly decided he had forfeited that defence.
Anadolu Ajansı said Monday’s Supreme Court action “does not resolve Trump’s separate legal battle” over the $83.3 million judgment, and that Trump’s appeal raises different legal questions from those involved in the $5 million judgment.
The Guardian also noted that the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday about the Supreme Court’s decision, and that the court is not set to act on the $83.3 million appeal until later this year, according to NBC News.
