WASHINGTON (AP) — On Monday, the Supreme Court dismissed President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn a jury’s verdict that found he had sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll in a Manhattan department store during the mid-1990s and subsequently defamed her.
The court declined to hear the case with a brief, unexplained order, which is customary. Trump’s legal team argued that the $5 million verdict was influenced by “highly inflammatory” evidentiary rulings, including testimony from two other women accusing Trump of sexual abuse from decades ago. Trump has denied all allegations from the three women involved.
Trump’s attorneys claimed that federal evidence rules were violated in the case. They described it as a distraction from Trump’s responsibilities as president, although the verdict was delivered prior to his return to the White House.
“This mistreatment of a President cannot be allowed to stand,” attorney Justin D. Smith stated in court documents. Subsequently, Trump nominated Smith for an appeals court judgeship.
This decision coincides with the court issuing opinions on some of the term’s most significant cases, many pivotal to Trump’s agenda. Trump has expressed his displeasure with previous Supreme Court defeats in very personal terms, including criticism when the majority overturned global tariffs he had imposed under emergency powers.
Carroll’s legal team had urged the justices to dismiss the case, arguing that the testimony of the women was pertinent due to the similarity of the allegations and that Judge Lewis Kaplan’s rulings were consistent with others nationwide. “This question is not worthy of review,” remarked attorney Roberta Kaplan, who is not related to the judge.
Carroll, a seasoned advice columnist and former TV talk show host, testified in a 2023 trial that Trump’s encounter with her in spring 1996 escalated into a violent attack in the dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury retailer opposite Trump Tower. The jury also found Trump liable for defamation against Carroll in 2022 when he denied her allegations.
The Associated Press does not typically disclose the identities of sexual assault survivors unless they publicize their experiences, as Carroll has.
Furthermore, a jury awarded Carroll an additional $83.3 million after a second defamation trial. Trump is appealing this decision as well, but it has not yet reached the Supreme Court.
Trump has successfully overturned other significant court judgments, including a New York civil fraud penalty exceeding $500 million, which was dismissed by a New York appeals court. The Supreme Court also granted him extensive immunity from criminal prosecution in 2024, although it later narrowly declined his request to halt sentencing in his New York hush-money case.
