Supreme Court declines Trump's second appeal in E. Jean Carroll case; $5M verdict stands
The Supreme Court declined for a second time to hear President Trump's appeal of a $5 million jury verdict awarded to E. Jean Carroll for sexual abuse and defamation. Trump has already paid the full amount plus interest. A separate $83 million verdict from a 2024 trial remains in the appeals process.
The Supreme Court has declined for a second time to take up President Trump's appeal of a $5 million jury verdict awarding damages to writer E. Jean Carroll, according to NBC News. Trump had asked the Court to reconsider its June decision rejecting his initial appeal. The Court almost never grants such reconsideration requests.
The $5 million judgment is now final. Trump has already paid the full amount, plus interest, bringing the total to $5.62 million as of this summer, per CBS News reporting. The case arose from a federal lawsuit Carroll filed in New York City alleging that Trump sexually assaulted her in a department store dressing room in 1996.
A jury of six men and three women decided in 2023 that Trump was liable. They deliberated for less than three hours, according to CBS News. The jury found that Trump forcefully penetrated Carroll with his fingers in the changing room and then denied the claim when she went public in 2019. The jury's unanimous verdict held that the evidence more likely than not supported Carroll's claims.
Trump did not attend the trial and called no witnesses. He has consistently denied the allegations, saying he does not know Carroll. A spokesman for his legal team characterized the case as a "Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes." Trump has continued to describe Carroll's claims as a "hoax" and "con job."
A separate 2024 trial resulted in a jury awarding Carroll more than $83 million on related defamation allegations. Trump was present for much of that trial and testified briefly, but left minutes before the jury returned its verdict. In challenging the $83 million case at the Supreme Court, Trump's legal team claimed presidential immunity protected his statements about Carroll. The Supreme Court has not yet ruled on that immunity argument.
The fate of the $83 million verdict remains uncertain as appeals proceed. The $5 million judgment stands with no remaining legal avenue for Trump to challenge it in the courts.
The Supreme Court turned away Trump's request to reconsider its June decision rejecting his initial appeal, leaving the $5 million judgment final and the $5.62 million already paid to Carroll.
With the Supreme Court's second rejection of Trump's appeal, the $5 million Carroll judgment becomes final and unreviewable. The $83 million verdict from the second trial remains in the appeals process, with Trump's presidential immunity claim pending before the Supreme Court.
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- nbcnews.com lean-left / high
- The Hill center / high
- cbsnews.com lean-left / high
- Guardian US lean-left / mostly-high
- The New York Times lean-left / high
- Washington Examiner lean-right / mixed
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