Donald Trump and the Justice Department are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to toss an $83m defamation verdict won by writer E Jean Carroll after she accused him of sexual assault, arguing he cannot be sued for comments made while he was president.
Second Supreme Court Appeal by Trump
This is the second time Trump has asked the justices to nix damages awarded by a jury to Carroll, a longtime New York advice columnist and former talkshow host. The Supreme Court refused in June to hear his appeal of another verdict, for $5m, that found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation.
The latest case centers on comments Trump made during his first term as U.S. president. The Justice Department wants to invoke the Westfall Act, which shields government employees from being sued for doing their jobs.
Justice Department Argues Immunity
“Absent this Court’s intervention, the sitting President is facing nearly a hundred million dollars of personal liability for conduct that was well within the scope of his federal office,” federal attorneys wrote. “That alone deserves this Court’s attention.” The appeal was filed electronically and is expected to be formally docketed with the court on Wednesday.
Trump’s lawyers argued that an appeals court “engaged in procedural contortions” to avoid addressing Trump’s claims that presidential immunity protects him from the $83m award because he made the statements in question in 2019 while president.
Lawyers Call Damages 'Grossly Excessive'
The lawyers argued that the second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled in a manner that “cries out for this Court’s review in this unprecedented case” and called the damages “grossly excessive.” “This is the first case in our nation’s history in which a court has imposed damages liability on a president for his conduct in office,” the lawyers wrote.
Carroll’s lawyers have declined to comment on the latest Trump filing. The appeal comes about two years after the Supreme Court granted Trump broad immunity from criminal prosecution as a former president.
Background of the Case
Carroll testified twice before New York juries that Trump sexually assaulted her in spring 1996 in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury department store across the street from Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. She first went public with the claims in a 2019 memoir. She sued Trump for defamation after he accused her of making up the allegation to help book sales, adding that he had never met her and “she’s not my type.” He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
A Manhattan jury awarded her $83m in damages in January 2024. In 2023, another jury said Carroll was entitled to $5m after Trump subjected her to sexual abuse in the department store encounter and for defamation for remarks he had made after his first term ended.
