SCOTUS Rules on Trump’s Bid To Overturn E. Jean Carroll Verdict

Legal observers note that certiorari denials are common and do not necessarily endorse the lower courts’ reasoning, but the outcome forces Trump to shoulder the judgment while pressing forward on other fronts.

The case traces back to Carroll’s allegation that Trump sexually abused her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s.

A jury found Trump liable for sexual battery—not rape under New York civil definitions—and defamation related to his public denials of her claims.

Carroll was awarded $5 million total.

A separate defamation trial produced an $83.3 million award, which remains under appeal and subject to further challenges, including arguments over presidential immunity and the Westfall Act.

Trump’s legal team had urged the Supreme Court to take the case, arguing that prejudicial evidence had tainted the trial.

They highlighted the admission of testimony from two other women who accused Trump of past misconduct, along with the infamous 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape in which he made crude remarks about women.