The Supreme Court on June 29 turned down an appeal from President Donald Trump in the case involving magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll.
At least six of the nine justices declined to take up the appeal of the finding that Trump sexually abused the writer.
The vote count and how each justice voted were not disclosed. Justices did not offer any explanation for the rejection of the appeal, which means Trump owes Carroll $5 million in damages.
“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!),” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“The American People stand with President Trump as they demand an immediate end to all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes. President Trump will keep winning against Liberal Lawfare, as he continues to focus on his mission to Make America Great Again,” a spokesman for Trump’s legal team told The Epoch Times in an email.
Roberta Kaplan, a lawyer for Carroll, told news outlets in a statement that the decision “affirms once and for all the jury’s unanimous verdict that President Donald J. Trump sexually assaulted and defamed E. Jean Carroll.”
“His multiple efforts to appeal that verdict have all failed and today’s ruling ends his quest to avoid accountability for his actions,” she added.
Jurors in 2023 found Trump liable for battery against Carroll, who alleged Trump sexually abused her in the dressing room of a department store in Manhattan in the 1990s. They also concluded that Trump defamed Carroll while denying the incident.
A federal appeals court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in 2025 upheld the ruling, finding that the judge who oversaw the trial and the jury acted reasonably.
The Second Circuit in April turned down an attempt by Trump to have the appeal reconsidered by the full court.
In a filing to the Supreme Court, lawyers for Trump said that Carroll’s allegations were “implausible” and “politically motivated,” with no corroboration by evidence such as video footage. Jurors only ruled in her favor, they said, after the judge overseeing the trial allowed the admission of “highly inflammatory propensity evidence” against Trump, including testimony about other unverified allegations.
Carroll’s legal representatives, in a brief, highlighted how the appeals court found the judge did not commit any error that affected Trump’s rights, so there is no basis for disturbing the judgement against him.
