Kenneth Glad
The justices declined to revisit a civil verdict that has followed the president through multiple challenges. The same court session also produced separate rulings on voting rules and presidential authority.
President Donald Trump’s effort to undo the $5 million civil verdict won by writer E. Jean Carroll ended at the Supreme Court when the justices declined to hear his appeal.
According to Raw Story and Time, the judgment remains in place. A New York jury found Trump liable in 2023 for sexually abusing Carroll in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s and for defaming her when he denied her account.
The Supreme Court did not review the evidence or rule again on the jury’s findings. Its refusal to take the matter leaves the lower-court result standing and ends Trump’s challenge in that proceeding.
Trump rejected the result on Truth Social. “Surprisingly, the Supreme Court declined to ‘review’ a Fake Case brought against me by a woman I never met,” he wrote.
The judgment remains in place
Trump also said: “I will continue the fight against this Weaponization and Lawfare Case against me, including the ridiculous claim of Defamation, with all of my power and strength.”
Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said the court’s action confirmed the jury’s verdict. “Today’s Supreme Court decision affirms once and for all the jury’s unanimous verdict that President Donald J. Trump sexually assaulted and defamed E. Jean Carroll,” she said in a statement shared on X by MSNBC executive producer Kyle Griffin.
Kaplan added: “His multiple efforts to appeal that verdict have all failed and today’s ruling ends his quest to avoid accountability for his actions.”
Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance wrote on X: “Trump starts today as a loser. E. Jean Carroll wins. The Supreme Court has declined to hear his appeal of her defamation verdict against him. It’s over, and it’s time for him to pay up.”
Other rulings added context
Attorney George Conway, a Trump critic, argued on X that the refusal to review the matter leaves the jury’s findings fixed as a legal matter. His comments reflected his interpretation of the verdict and prior explanations from the trial judge.
The Carroll dispute was one of several Supreme Court actions involving Trump on the same day, according to Time. The justices also let stand a Mississippi rule allowing mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if they arrive within five business days.
Trump criticized that decision on Truth Social, calling it a “tremendous loss.” He again pushed for the SAVE America Act, a Republican-backed voting proposal that would add proof-of-citizenship and identification requirements for federal elections.
In separate cases, the court handed Trump a victory on executive authority. The justices said presidents may remove many executive branch officials, while leaving protections for Federal Reserve officials untouched.
Trump called that result a “BIG WIN,” saying it strengthened presidential authority over federal appointees.
The judgment remains in place. Trump gained a favorable ruling on executive removal power, objected to the court’s treatment of late-arriving mail ballots, and lost his bid to reopen the Carroll verdict at the nation’s highest court.
Sources: Raw Story, Time
