Author E. Jean Carroll arrives at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on September 6, 2024 in Manhattan, New York, USA. Former President Donald Trump is expected to arrive to ask a federal appeals court to overturn a $5 million jury verdict that found Trump liable for sexual assault and defamation nearly three decades ago.
Adam Gray | Reuters
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump’s latest Hail Mary attempt to overturn the verdict of a federal civil jury that found author E. Jean Carroll liable for sexual abuse and defamation.
The court’s decision was revealed in a list of orders. There was no explanation given as to why President Trump’s request for a retrial of the case was denied.
The court has already rejected President Trump’s challenge to the verdict, leaving Carroll’s $5 million damages award intact.
Carroll was awarded more than $5.6 million in damages and post-judgment interest last month, according to online documents from her lawsuit.
President Trump also asked the Supreme Court to overturn another federal civil libel judgment that awarded Carroll $83.3 million. The High Court has not yet ruled on this matter.
“The American people stand with President Trump in calling for an immediate end to all witch hunts, including the Democratic-funded farce of the Carroll hoax,” a spokesperson for President Trump’s legal team told CNBC in a statement Monday morning.
CNBC has reached out to Carroll’s attorney for comment.
A civil jury in 2023 found Trump guilty of sexually abusing Carroll at the Manhattan department store Bergdorf Goodman in the 1990s and then defaming her in 2019 by publishing claims about his encounter with her.
In late June, the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s appeal of Carroll’s decision. In early July, President Trump asked the court to reconsider.
His lawyers argued that Trump’s impending attempt to overturn another $83.3 million Carroll judgment “raises serious questions regarding the president’s immunity for public statements,” and that a new trial is necessary.
“These questions are likely to affect the appropriate disposition” of the $5 million Carroll lawsuit, Trump’s lawyers wrote.
In both cases, Carroll relies on statements made by Trump while president, which his lawyers argue were “improperly introduced” given the Supreme Court’s ruling that presidents have “constructive immunity” for acts of official conduct.
