US Supreme Court rejects Donald Trump's rehearing petition in $5 million Carroll civil verdict

Rehearing denied

The US Supreme Court on Monday refused a request from Donald Trump to reconsider its decision declining to review a 5 million dollar civil judgment against him. The order was issued without explanation or noted dissents during the justices' summer recess. Trump's petition asked the court to revisit its June refusal to hear his appeal of a 2024 appellate ruling affirming the verdict. The high court rarely grants rehearing requests, having not approved one since the mid-1960s. Carroll's lawyer Roberta Kaplan welcomed the decision in a public statement.

We are pleased that the United States Supreme Court has declined again to hear this case. As a result, the jury's unanimous verdict that Donald Trump sexually assaulted and then defamed E. Jean Carroll is now final and cannot be challenged in any court.

The 2023 verdict and payout

The 5 million dollar award stems from a May 2023 trial in a New York federal court. Jurors determined that Trump sexually abused Carroll in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room during the 1990s and subsequently defamed her. The jury awarded Carroll 2 million dollars for the sexual assault and 3 million dollars for defamation. Trump's attorneys challenged the verdict on appeal, arguing that Carroll never reported the matter to police, that no witnesses were present, and that the judge improperly admitted an Access Hollywood recording. Trump paid Carroll approximately 5.6 million dollars in July, an amount reflecting the original award plus post-judgment interest.

Origins of the dispute

Carroll, a former columnist and author now 82 years old, first detailed the 1996 encounter in a 2019 book. Trump denied the allegations, referring to Carroll as a liar and calling the account a fraud concocted to sell books. After Trump published a Truth Social post in 2022 describing the claims as a complete con job, a hoax, and a scam, Carroll brought the defamation and battery claims to court. Trump's legal team described the accusations as facially implausible and argued that the legal proceedings represented a politically motivated effort.

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.

Pending $83.3 million judgment

The final rejection of Trump's rehearing petition leaves a second, larger verdict pending before the Supreme Court. In 2024, another New York jury ordered Trump to pay Carroll 83.3 million dollars for separate defamatory comments made in 2019. That judgment was upheld on appeal, though enforcement remains paused pending Supreme Court review. Trump petitioned the high court to overturn the 83.3 million dollar award, but the justices are not expected to consider whether to accept that case until late September at the earliest.