Supreme Court again rejects Trump in Carroll case
Photo: REUTERS
US Supreme Court has once again rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn a federal civil jury verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E Jean Carroll.
This marks the second time the top court has declined to review the case, following a previous denial in June. Trump continues to deny any wrongdoing, claiming the presiding judge allowed improper evidence that skewed the jury’s perception of him.
In July, Carroll was paid more than $5 million in damages after a jury determined Trump sexually assaulted her in the 1990s and later labeled the incident a hoax on social media. Following the court’s decision, Carroll expressed gratitude toward her legal team and supporters.
In a newsletter released on Monday, she said, “One old lady cannot make a difference. But when that old lady has a team of the most brilliant attorneys in America, and when that old lady has the support of women around the world, that old lady can do the impossible.”
Her attorney, Roberta Kaplan, emphasized that the jury’s finding that Trump sexually assaulted and defamed Carroll “is now final and cannot be challenged in any court.”
Supreme Court included this decision in an order list published on Monday but provided no explanation for why they refused to rehear the case. Legal experts characterized Trump’s request for reconsideration as an “unusual long-shot legal manoeuver,” noting the court rarely approves such petitions.
Carroll, an 82-year-old former magazine columnist, originally sued Trump for an attack occurring in a Manhattan department store dressing room during the mid-1990s.
The defamation charge originated from a 2022 post on Truth Social where Trump denied the allegations and claimed Carroll was “not my type”. While Trump has not yet commented on this latest refusal, he previously vowed in June to fight what he called a “weaponisation and lawfare case” and a “ridiculous” claim.
He asserted on Truth Social that, “This Case is really against the United States of America, and all it stands for, and should never be allowed to happen to another President, or Candidate to be.”
In their initial petition, Trump’s lawyers argued that the jury should never have seen the 2005 Access Hollywood footage where Trump used crude language regarding groping and kissing women.
Trump has asked the Supreme Court to void a separate federal civil defamation verdict worth $83.3 million. His legal team maintains that a sitting president cannot be sued for comments made while in office, though the top court has yet to issue a ruling on that specific matter.
Source: BBC (adapted)
