Trump asks Supreme Court to hear E. Jean Carroll verdict appeal

President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to hear his appeal of a civil ruling ordering author E. Jean Carroll to pay $5 million in damages after holding him accountable for sexually assaulting him during an encounter at a New York store in the 1990s and defaming him decades later.

Trump’s request on Monday comes nearly 11 months after the election 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals It upheld the verdict handed down by a civil jury in Manhattan federal court in May 2023.

The petition filed with the Supreme Court says Judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversaw the trial, made “a series of indefensible evidentiary decisions,” including “improperly admitting evidence of highly inflammatory tendencies toward President Trump.”

This evidence included the testimony of two women who claimed that Trump sexually harassed them at other times.

The petition also says Kaplan erred by allowing Carroll’s attorney to play for jurors the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump bragged about groping women without their prior consent.

There is no automatic right to appeal to the Supreme Court. It is not known when the high court will decide whether to accept Trump’s objection.

Carroll, 2019 New York magazine articleIt first became public in the mid-1990s with the allegation that Trump raped her in the dressing room of the Bergdorf Goodman store.

While she publicly denied this claim after the article was published, she sued him for allegedly defaming him in his comments.

Carroll later filed a separate lawsuit accusing Trump of rape and of defaming her again when he commented on her allegations in late 2022.

The second case was the subject of a trial that ended in May 2023. Jurors in that case did not find Trump responsible for the rape, but found him liable for sexually assaulting and slandering Carroll.

This is the decision that Trump wants the Supreme Court to overturn with his new petition.

“Carroll waited more than 20 years to falsely accuse Donald Trump, whom he opposed politically, until Trump became the 45th President, when Trump was able to maximize the political damage to him and gain for himself,” the petition states.

“It is noteworthy that Carroll’s allegations fit neatly into the plot of an episode of ‘Law & Order,’ undoubtedly one of his favorite TV shows,” the petition reads. The statement is included.

“The American people stand with President Trump in demanding an immediate end to all Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoaxes,” a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said in a statement on the petition. he said.

“President Trump will continue to win against Liberal Law while remaining focused on his mission to Make America Great Again,” the spokesperson said.

Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, declined to comment on the petition.

Carroll’s first defamation lawsuit against Trump went to trial after the second lawsuit.

In January 2024, a Manhattan federal court jury found Trump liable for defamation for statements he made as president in 2019, in which he denied Carroll’s rape allegations.

The jury awarded him $83.3 in damages.

Trump appealed this decision.

2nd Chamber will appeal to the court of appeal in September He rejected this objection.

“As the district court observed, the conduct here supports a serious punitive damages award; it involved malice and fraud, caused serious emotional injury, and continued for at least five years,” the appeals court’s three-judge panel wrote in its decision rejecting Trump’s appeal. he said.

“The record in this case supports the district court’s finding that the ‘degree of condemnation’ of Mr. Trump’s conduct was remarkably high, perhaps unprecedented,” the board wrote. he said.

Trump filed a petition with the 2nd Circuit, requesting that his appeal be reconsidered by a panel of all active judges in the circuit.