Trump petitions Supreme Court to overturn $83.3 million Carroll judgment

President Donald Trump has filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking to overturn a $83.3 million jury award ordered in a defamation suit filed by writer E. Jean Carroll. Trump's legal team argues that upholding the judgment could deter future presidents from performing official duties for fear of civil liability.

"If left standing, the decision below will cause significant damage, not only to this President and future Presidents, but also to 'the Nation that the Presidency was designed to serve,'" the filing said, adding that such liability would "seriously cripple the proper and effective administration of" government. The request follows a prior appeal in a related case where a New York jury awarded Carroll $5 million for sexual abuse, a verdict that was also upheld by federal appeals courts. The earlier case stemmed from Carroll's 2019 allegation that Trump sexually assaulted her in a New York department store in 1996, which Trump denied and labeled a fabrication to promote her book. Both judgments were affirmed by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which described the $83.3 million award as "reasonable in light of the extraordinary and egregious facts of this case" and noted the jury’s finding of a "remarkably high" degree of reprehensibility. Carroll’s attorneys declined to comment on the new Supreme Court filing. Trump’s lawyers maintain that his 2019 statements were made while he was president and therefore should be protected by presidential immunity.