The United States Supreme Court has rejected to hear President Donald Trump’s appeal to overturn a 2023 civil ruling holding him responsible for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll. The decision upholds Carroll’s $5 million judgment and effectively ends Trump’s efforts to overturn that verdict. Trump’s niece, Mary L. Trump, cheered for Carroll by tweeting:
“What a legend she is!”
Donald Trump’s niece, Mary L. Trump, cheers for E. Jean Carroll
Following the Supreme Court’s decision on June 29, Mary L. Trump took to X (previously Twitter) to celebrate Carroll’s legal success. She thanked Carroll on social media and encouraged her uncle to pay the damages. She tweeted:
“At last! @ejeancarroll just kicked Donald’s ass once and for all. What a legend she is! Time to pay up, Donald.”
Her comments came right after the Supreme Court declined to consider Trump’s appeal without explanation. None of the justices publicly disagreed with the ruling.
The ruling means that Donald Trump’s 2023 jury verdict, which found him responsible for sexually abusing Carroll in a New York department store dressing room in the mid-1990s and then defaming her, will stand, as will the $5 million civil judgment.
Trump petitioned the Supreme Court to reverse the verdict after a federal appeals court upheld the jury’s finding in 2024.
His defense team said that the trial was unfair because jurors had the opportunity to hear testimony from two other women who accused Trump of sexual assault, as well as watch the 2005 Access Hollywood tape on which he made controversial comments about women. His defense team claimed that the evidence unfairly impacted the jurors.
The Supreme Court declined to consider the appeal, leaving the lower court decisions unaffected. Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, in a statement said:
“Today’s Supreme Court decision affirms once and for all the jury’s unanimous verdict that President Donald J. Trump sexually assaulted and defamed E. Jean Carroll.”
She added:
“His multiple efforts to appeal that verdict have all failed and today’s ruling ends his quest to avoid accountability for his actions.”
Donald Trump responds to the ruling
Following the decision, Donald Trump criticized the ruling in a lengthy post on Truth Social, disputing Carroll’s allegations again. He referred to the lawsuit as a “fake case” and promised to continue battling what he called a politically motivated legal action.
President Trump wrote:
“Surprisingly, the Supreme Court declined to “review” a Fake Case brought against me by a woman I never met (Decades old celebrity photo line, standing with her husband, does not count!). I will continue the fight against this Weaponization and Lawfare Case against me, including the ridiculous claim of Defamation, with all of my power and strength.”
He continued:
“This Case is really against the United States of America, and all it stands for, and should never be allowed to happen to another President, or Candidate to be.”
He concluded with:
“New York State created a Law, for an instant speck of time, going back many decades, in order to wrongfully “nab” me. It was tailormade, and this Injustice cannot be allowed to stand! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP”
What happened between Donald Trump and E. Jean Carroll?
Carroll accused publicly in 2019 of sexually assaulting her in a dressing room at Manhattan’s Bergdorf Goodman department store in the mid-1990s. Trump denied assaulting her and repeatedly denied her claims, causing Carroll to take legal action against him for defamation.
Carroll filed a second case in 2022 under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which allows survivors of alleged sexual assault to file legal claims regardless of when the incident occurred. Then, in 2023, a federal jury found Trump guilty of sexually abusing and defaming Carroll and awarded her $5 million in damages.
A separate jury eventually awarded Carroll $83.3 million in a separate defamation lawsuit coming from Donald Trump’s remarks in 2019, after she initially made her allegations. That decision is still on appeal, and Trump’s legal team is anticipated to seek Supreme Court review in that case as well.
Stay tuned to Soap Central for more information.
Edited by Zachary D. Lyngdoh