Supreme Court rejects final Trump appeal of $5 million E. Jean Carroll verdict

By Devin Dwyer

The Supreme Court on Monday declined a request from President Donald Trump to reconsider its rejection of his appeal in the 2023 E. Jean Carroll case.

The decision means it's the end of the line for Trump's bid to overturn a $5 million jury award to Carroll, which the writer's representatives said was paid in July.

The Court did not explain its decision and there were no noted dissents. No request for a rehearing has been granted since the 1960s. 

A jury determined in 2023 that Trump was liable for sexually abusing Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the 1990s, and that he defamed her in a 2022 social media post by calling her allegations "a Hoax and a lie" and saying "This woman is not my type!"

In 2024, following a separate trial, Trump was ordered to pay $83.3 million in damages to Carroll for defaming her in 2019 when he denied her allegations of sexual abuse.

Trump, who denies any wrongdoing, is continuing to appeal that judgment with a petition to the justices currently pending. They are expected to decide later this year whether or not to take up the case.

In his appeal, Trump alleges that his 2019 comments about Carroll -- which were later found to be defamatory -- were "official" statements as president and therefore immune from use in a legal case against him.