Supreme Court Upholds Accountability: Trump’s $5 Million Defamation Verdict for Assault on E. Jean Carroll Stands
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The U.S. Supreme Court refused to shield President Donald Trump from responsibility, declining to review his attempt to overturn a $5 million jury verdict in favor of writer E. Jean Carroll, who bravely exposed his sexual abuse and subsequent defamation.
On Monday, the Supreme Court delivered a blow to impunity for the powerful by denying President Donald Trump’s desperate petition to overturn a $5 million verdict. The jury had found Trump responsible for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s and then launching a campaign of defamation against her. The justices, standing on the side of survivors and justice, also rejected several other petitions—a rare move in the Court’s history. Trump, faced with the consequences of his actions, had already paid the judgment after the Court refused to hear his appeal in June.
Beyond the $5 million case, Trump and the Justice Department are now scrambling to dismiss a separate $83 million verdict, cynically invoking presidential immunity for statements he made about Carroll in 2019. The Supreme Court has not yet ruled on this latest attempt to evade accountability.
Carroll, a courageous advice columnist and former television host, testified that Trump transformed what began as a friendly encounter at a Manhattan department store into a violent assault in a dressing-room. The jury, recognizing the harm inflicted, also found Trump liable for defamation after he publicly denied her allegations in 2022.
"As a result, the jury’s unanimous verdict that Donald Trump sexually assaulted and then defamed E. Jean Carroll is now final and cannot be challenged in any court," stated Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney, affirming the victory for truth and survivors everywhere.
Trump, as ever, continues to deny any wrongdoing, refusing to accept responsibility for his actions.