Camilla Jessen
The president argues that the jury was unfairly influenced by past allegations and Access Hollywood tapes.
President Donald Trump has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a civil judgment that found him liable for sexual assault and defamation against journalist E. Jean Carroll.
The request, filed Monday, seeks to overturn the $5 million verdict upheld by a federal appeals court in 2023.
Trump’s legal team argues that Judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversaw the original trial, made serious legal errors.
They say the court improperly allowed testimony from two other women who accused Trump of past sexual misconduct.
His attorneys also objected to the jury viewing the 2005 Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump was recorded saying he would grope women without their consent.
Carroll sued Trump for sexual assault, claiming he attacked her in a New York department store in the 1990s, and later defamed her in 2019 by denying the claim and accusing her of inventing it to sell books.
“There were no eyewitnesses, no video evidence, no police reports, no investigations,” Trump’s petition said, arguing Carroll waited decades to make the claim and did so for political and personal gain once Trump became president.
Second trial and larger judgment
This is not the only legal battle between Trump and Carroll.
In a separate civil case earlier this year, another jury found Trump liable for defamation for statements made in 2022. That jury awarded Carroll $83 million in damages.
The appeals court in that case ruled the award was appropriate given the “extraordinary and serious” circumstances. It also rejected Trump’s attempts to use presidential immunity as a defense, noting that he had already waived that argument in earlier stages of the litigation.
Trump has now asked the full appeals court panel to reconsider the $83 million verdict as well. Legal experts say that if the Supreme Court agrees to take either case, it could set major precedents around presidential speech and defamation.
Carroll’s legal team is expected to file a response to the Supreme Court petition in the coming weeks.
This was reported by Digi24.
This article is made and published by Camilla Jessen, who may have used AI in the preparation
