WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and the US Department of Justice have asked the US Supreme Court to overturn an $83 million defamation award granted to writer E. Jean Carroll, arguing that remarks made while Trump was in office should be protected from personal legal action.
The appeal is the latest development in a long-running legal dispute between Trump and Carroll. It also marks the second time Trump has sought intervention from the Supreme Court over jury awards in Carroll’s favour.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court declined to hear Trump’s appeal against a separate $5 million judgment that found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation. That ruling remains in place.
The current appeal concerns statements Trump made in 2019 while serving as president after Carroll publicly accused him of sexually assaulting her in a New York department store during the mid-1990s.
Trump denied the allegation at the time, saying Carroll’s account was false. He also questioned her motives and rejected her claims, leading Carroll to file a defamation lawsuit.
The US Department of Justice argues that Trump’s comments were made within the scope of his official role as president and should therefore be covered by the Westfall Act, a federal law that protects government employees from certain civil lawsuits arising from their official duties.
In its filing, the department said allowing the judgment to stand could expose a sitting president to significant personal financial liability for actions taken while carrying out official responsibilities.
Trump’s legal team has also argued that lower courts failed to properly consider whether presidential immunity applies to the case. His lawyers maintain the disputed remarks were made during his time in office and should receive constitutional protection.
The lawyers criticised the ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, describing the damages awarded to Carroll as excessive and urging the Supreme Court to review the decision.
Carroll’s legal representatives have not publicly responded to the latest filing. The appeal was submitted electronically and is expected to be formally entered onto the court’s docket.
The legal challenge comes after the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision recognising broad criminal immunity for presidents carrying out official acts, a ruling Trump’s lawyers say supports their arguments in the civil case.
Carroll has consistently alleged that Trump sexually assaulted her inside a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan in 1996 before publicly detailing the allegation in a memoir published in 2019. Trump has repeatedly denied the accusation.
A jury awarded Carroll $83 million in damages in January 2024 after finding Trump had defamed her through his 2019 statements. The Supreme Court will now decide whether it will hear the appeal, a decision that could determine whether the judgment remains in force or returns to a lower court for further review.
Legal experts are expected to closely watch the Supreme Court’s response because the case raises broader questions about the legal protections available to presidents for statements made while carrying out their official duties. The court’s decision on whether to hear the appeal could influence how similar cases are handled in the future.
If the Supreme Court agrees to review the case, both sides will have an opportunity to present detailed legal arguments before the justices issue a ruling. If the court declines to hear the appeal, the lower court’s decision awarding Carroll $83 million in damages will remain in effect, bringing another chapter of the high-profile legal dispute to a close.
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