Supreme Court again rejects Trump's bid to overturn E Jean Carroll sex abuse case

The United States Supreme Court has once more refused President Donald Trump's attempt to overturn a civil court's ruling that held him accountable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E Jean Carroll. The court had previously dismissed a similar request in June. Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing and has claimed that the judge involved in the civil trial improperly allowed certain evidence to sway the jury's perception of him.

In July, Trump paid Carroll over $5 million in damages for her claim that Trump had sexually assaulted her in the 1990s, but he later labeled the incident a fabrication on social media. Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, expressed satisfaction with the Supreme Court's decision, stating that the jury's unanimous verdict that Trump sexually assaulted and defamed Carroll is now irrefutable and cannot be challenged in any court.

The court's ruling was published in a list of orders on Monday, without providing a reason for declining Trump's latest attempt to reconsider its previous decision. Legal experts deemed Trump's request to review its earlier rejection as an uncommon long shot legal maneuver, as the court seldom grants such requests. Carroll, now 82, sued Trump for defaming her in a 2022 post on Truth Social where he denied the allegations and called her "not my type."

Trump has not commented on the court's latest decision to not hear his appeal. In a lengthy post on Truth Social following the earlier court decision, Trump vowed to continue fighting what he termed the "weaponization and lawfare case" and the "ridiculous" defamation claim. He argued that the case was against the United States and its values, and should never be allowed to happen to another president or candidate.

Trump's lawyers initially argued that Carroll's lawyers should not have allowed jurors to view the infamous 2005 Access Hollywood video where Trump made crude comments about groping and kissing women. Following that, another jury ordered Trump to pay Carroll $83 million for defaming her. A panel of federal judges dismissed his appeal of that decision in September.