Overview
- The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear President Donald Trump’s challenge to a 2023 jury verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, leaving the $5 million judgment in place.
- Trump previously transferred $5.5 million into a court-controlled account after the verdict, which will speed Carroll’s ability to collect that award and any accrued interest.
- The high court issued a brief, unexplained order as is customary, and the 2nd U.S. Circuit had already upheld the verdict after reviewing disputed evidentiary rulings.
- A separate $83.3 million defamation judgment from a different Carroll trial remains on appeal and is expected to be pressed toward the Supreme Court by Trump’s lawyers.
- The case has raised questions about civil-evidence rules in historic sexual-assault suits, including Rule 415 that allows other-sexual-assault testimony, and the Justice Department’s disclosed probe into possible perjury by Carroll adds a parallel criminal inquiry that could affect the record.