Trump asks Supreme Court to toss E. Jean Carroll’s $83.3 million award
Trump’s lawyers say presidential immunity shields him from the $83.3 million defamation judgment won by E. Jean Carroll.
By Sal Moretti · Money Reporter
3 min read
President Donald Trump has taken the Trump Carroll Supreme Court fight back to the justices, asking them to wipe out an $83.3 million defamation award won by writer E. Jean Carroll.
In a filing Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers urged the Supreme Court to review the case and overturn the 2024 jury award, arguing that presidential immunity should protect him from paying damages tied to statements he made while in office.
The case stems from Carroll’s 2019 lawsuit over Trump’s denials that he sexually abused her in a department store dressing room in 1996. Trump has denied wrongdoing in both of Carroll’s cases against him.
Why is Trump asking the Supreme Court about E. Jean Carroll?
Trump’s legal team says the judgment punishes a president for conduct carried out as part of the job. In the filing, his lawyers called the case the first in U.S. history to impose damages on a president for actions taken while in office and described the award as “exorbitant.”
The lawyers argued that allowing the judgment to stand would harm Trump, future presidents and the country served by the presidency. They said even one damages award over official acts could make presidents hesitate while doing their duties.
Trump’s team also leaned on the Supreme Court’s 2024 presidential immunity decision. According to the filing, the appeals court failed to apply that ruling even though the high court had said many presidential public communications are likely to fall within immunity protections.
What is the Westfall Act argument?
Trump’s lawyers are asking the court to apply the Westfall Act, a federal law that can shield government employees from certain lawsuits over actions taken within the scope of their official duties.
If the act applies, Trump’s name would be replaced by the U.S. government as the defendant, according to his lawyers. That would effectively end Carroll’s defamation claim because the federal government cannot be sued for defamation.
The filing said Trump was being ordered to pay nearly $100 million for a press release and answers to reporters’ questions from the White House while defending himself against attacks on his fitness for office.
What happened in the lower courts?
Trump’s attempt to revive the presidential immunity argument has already been rejected below. A three-judge appeals court panel turned away his appeal in September, and the full appeals court later denied his request for a rehearing.
Carroll’s legal team declined to comment on Trump’s latest petition Tuesday evening, according to NBC News.
The Supreme Court last month declined to review a separate Carroll case that Trump had also sought to challenge. That case was filed in 2022 after the first lawsuit was slowed by legal disputes and centered on the alleged sexual abuse itself and statements Trump made after leaving office.
In that separate case, a jury awarded Carroll $5 million in 2023. Carroll collected that judgment this month after Trump made repeated court efforts to block payment, according to NBC News.
This story draws on original reporting from NBC News.