President Donald Trump and the Department of Justice have filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to vacate an $83 million defamation verdict won by writer E. Jean Carroll. The case stems from comments Trump made during his first presidential term regarding Carroll’s allegations of sexual assault and her public disclosure of those claims.
Trump’s legal team argues that he cannot be held personally liable for statements made while serving as president, citing presidential immunity protections. The Justice Department invoked the Westfall Act, a statute that shields government employees from lawsuits related to actions taken in their official capacity. Federal attorneys contended in their filing that allowing the judgment to stand would expose a sitting president to substantial personal liability for conduct undertaken in an official role.
Trump’s lawyers characterized the appeals court’s handling of the case as problematic, stating the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals employed procedural methods to avoid directly addressing presidential immunity claims. They described the damages as excessive and characterized the case as unprecedented, noting it marks the first instance in U.S. history in which a court has imposed damages against a president for conduct in office.
This represents Trump’s second attempt to challenge Carroll’s verdicts at the Supreme Court. In June, the justices declined to hear an appeal of a separate $5 million judgment that found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation. That verdict has been paid. Carroll’s legal representatives have not commented on the latest filing.
Carroll, a longtime advice columnist and former television host, accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in 1996 at a department store. She first publicly disclosed the allegations in a memoir published in 2019. Trump has denied all allegations and stated he did not know Carroll.
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