Supreme Court Denies Trump’s Second Appeal in $5 Million E. Jean Carroll Verdict

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear President Donald Trump’s renewed appeal of a $5 million jury verdict awarded to writer E. Jean Carroll, marking the second time the court has turned away his challenge in the case. The justices rejected his request to reconsider their earlier decision from June, which had already denied his appeal of the 2023 jury verdict. The court’s order came without explanation, which is typical given how rarely the justices grant reconsideration requests.

Case Rooted in Decades-Old Allegations

Carroll, a former advice columnist for Elle magazine, first went public in 2019 with allegations that Trump raped her in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. Trump has consistently denied the claims, calling them false both when they were first published and again in 2022. The jury verdict in question stemmed from comments Trump made in 2022, when he described Carroll’s allegations as a hoax on social media. Jurors ultimately found in 2023 that Trump had sexually abused and defamed Carroll, though they did not find that he had raped her.

Separate $83.3 Million Verdict Still Pending

The Supreme Court is separately weighing whether to take up Trump’s appeal of a different, larger verdict, an $83.3 million judgment awarded to Carroll over defamatory statements he made in 2019 during his first term in office. In that appeal, Trump’s legal team argues he should be shielded by presidential immunity and that lower courts wrongly determined he had given up that defense. His lawyers have also argued that a ruling on immunity in the larger case could ultimately affect the outcome of the smaller $5 million verdict as well.

Payment Already Made

Following the Supreme Court’s initial denial in June, Carroll collected close to $5.63 million from Trump, covering the original verdict amount plus accumulated interest.

Broader Legal Context

The Supreme Court’s landmark 2024 ruling established that former presidents hold broad immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts taken within their constitutional authority while in office. However, both Carroll lawsuits are civil cases rather than criminal matters, meaning that immunity ruling does not directly apply in the same way.