President Donald Trump's lawyers are asking the Supreme Court to overturn an $83.3 million defamation judgment he was ordered to pay to writer E. Jean Carroll. The appeal was filed electronically and is expected to be formally docketed with the court on Wednesday. This 2024 verdict was based on Trump's original 2019 denial during his first term in the White House.
Attorneys for the president argue that he is shielded from liability by a 2024 high court decision granting presidents sweeping immunity for actions taken in office. They assert that Trump cannot be sued for comments and statements he made while serving as president.
The request comes after the Supreme Court recently rejected Trump's bid to overturn another $5 million verdict in favor of Carroll. That award was based on a 2022 denial, although jurors in that case did not find that Trump raped her.
Carroll has won a total of $88.3 million in civil verdicts against Trump in the seven years since he first denied raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan around 1996. Court records show she has collected nearly $5.63 million from Trump.