Overview
- On Tuesday, July 28 and Wednesday, July 29, President Trump and the Department of Justice filed separate petitions with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to overturn or nullify the $83.3 million defamation judgment won by writer E. Jean Carroll.
- Trump’s petition argues his 2019 denials and comments to reporters were official presidential communications protected by presidential immunity and that the Second Circuit erred by not deciding that question on the merits.
- The Justice Department asks the court to allow substitution of the United States as defendant under the Westfall Act so federal immunity would block the defamation claim because the government cannot be sued for defamation.
- Lower courts have so far upheld the $83.3 million award, with the Second Circuit finding the damages reasonable and saying Trump had forfeited an immunity defense, while a separate $5 million Carroll verdict was recently paid to her after the Supreme Court declined review.
- If the Supreme Court agrees to hear the petitions the case could clarify whether the 2024 presidential immunity ruling extends to civil damages and would likely take many months of briefing and argument, but if the court declines review the lower‑court judgments will remain in force.