Key facts
- The Supreme Court rejected Donald Trump's appeal to overturn a $5 million verdict.
- A jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s.
- The jury also found Trump liable for defaming Carroll when he denied her allegations.
- Trump's lawyers argued that improper evidentiary rulings influenced the verdict.
- The Supreme Court declined to hear the case in an unexplained order.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by Donald Trump seeking to overturn a jury's finding that he sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s and later defamed her. The high court, in a brief and unexplained order, declined to hear the case. Trump's lawyers had contended that the $5 million verdict was influenced by "highly inflammatory" evidentiary rulings, including the testimony of two other women who had accused Trump of sexual abuse. They argued that the judge's decisions violated federal evidence rules and that such treatment of a president should not stand. Trump has denied all allegations made by the three women.
Carroll's legal team, including attorney Roberta Kaplan, urged the justices to reject the appeal, arguing the testimony was relevant due to similar allegations and that Judge Lewis Kaplan's decisions were consistent with national legal standards. Carroll, an advice columnist, testified that Trump assaulted her in a department store dressing room in 1996. A jury also found Trump liable for defamation when he denied her claims in 2022, leading to an additional $83.3 million award in a subsequent trial, which Trump is also appealing.