The U.S. Supreme Court has opted not to intervene in the civil case involving President Donald Trump and writer E. Jean Carroll, leaving in place a jury verdict that awarded Carroll $5 million in damages.
The 2023 jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation stemming from an incident allegedly occurring in the 1990s, a claim the President has consistently and vehemently denied.
Trump’s legal team had sought to overturn the verdict, arguing that the trial judge improperly allowed prejudicial evidence, specifically the 2005 Access Hollywood tape, to influence the jury. A federal appeals court previously upheld the verdict, and the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case marks the end of the line for this specific appeal.
Following the ruling, President Trump took to Truth Social to denounce the proceedings as a prime example of 'lawfare' and the weaponization of the justice system against him.
He characterized the New York law utilized in the case as a temporary measure designed specifically to target him, asserting that the entire ordeal is an injustice that threatens the integrity of the presidency.
While the jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, it is notable that they rejected Carroll’s specific claim of rape under New York’s penal code. This development follows a separate jury’s decision to order Trump to pay $83 million in a related defamation case, an appeal for which was also denied by a panel of federal judges in September.
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