Supreme Court Finalizes $5M Carroll Verdict Against Trump
The US Supreme Court on Monday again declined to intervene in President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the $5 million jury verdict in the E. Jean Carroll case, denying his petition for rehearing as part of the court’s second summer order list. The decision marks the final rejection of Trump’s appeal in this case, making the verdict legally binding and unchallengeable in any court.
According to AP News, the court denied Trump’s petition along with several others, providing no explanation for its decision — consistent with its general practice. The court has not granted a petition to reconsider its denial of review since 2018, making Trump’s request a long-shot from the outset.
The Case and Its Origins
E. Jean Carroll, a longtime advice columnist and former TV talk show host, alleged that Trump sexually assaulted her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury retailer across the street from Trump Tower in Manhattan, in the mid-1990s. In 2022, Carroll filed a lawsuit under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, alleging both defamation and sexual assault.
A jury in 2023 found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and for defaming her when he denied her allegation in 2022, awarding $5 million in damages. The jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse but not rape. Trump deposited the award plus interest into an escrow account shortly after the verdict.
Trump’s legal team argued that Carroll’s lawyers should not have been allowed to introduce testimony by other women who also alleged Trump had assaulted them, as well as the 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump bragged about grabbing women by their genitals.
The Supreme Court’s Rejection
The Supreme Court initially declined to take up Trump’s appeal in June, and Trump subsequently filed a petition for rehearing on July 8, asking the justices to reconsider their decision. As SCOTUSblog reported, Trump contended that at his trial, Carroll’s lawyers had relied on statements he made while president, arguing that a second petition for review in a separate case “will present the issue of whether” those “statements constitute protected official acts, which they do.”
On July 13, Carroll received the $5 million plus interest — totaling approximately $5.6 to $5.8 million — which had been held in an escrow account after the verdict, as PBS NewsHour confirmed.
Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, said in a statement: “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.” She added, “We are pleased that the United States Supreme Court has declined again to hear this case.”
Trump’s legal team responded with a statement saying, “The American people stand with President Trump as they demand an immediate end to all the Witch Hunts,” calling the Carroll cases a “hoax” and asserting that the president “will keep winning against Liberal Lawfare.”
The $83.3 Million Case Remains Pending
While the $5 million verdict is now final, a separate and larger legal battle continues. Trump and the Justice Department are asking the Supreme Court to overturn an $83.3 million defamation verdict against him in a second Carroll case, as SCOTUSblog detailed.
Trump’s lawyers argue that the lower court’s ruling “wrongly eviscerates Presidential immunity,” contending this is “the first case in our Nation’s history in which a court has imposed damages liability on a President for his conduct in office.” The federal government has filed a separate petition arguing that then-Attorney General Pamela Jo Bondi’s request to recertify that Trump was acting as president should have been granted.
The Supreme Court is likely to consider these petitions in the fall, and the outcome could have significant implications for the scope of presidential immunity.
What This Means
Monday’s order represents a definitive legal conclusion to the $5 million case, which has been a recurring theme in Trump’s legal battles since the 2023 trial. The PBS NewsHour reported on the earlier June denial, noting that Trump’s attorneys had argued the judge broke federal evidence rules in the case.
The verdict’s finality removes one legal front from Trump’s ongoing litigation landscape, but the larger $83.3 million question — and the presidential immunity arguments at its core — remains unresolved. The Supreme Court’s eventual decision on that case could reshape the legal boundaries of presidential conduct and accountability.
As the court’s third and final summer order list is scheduled for September 4, attention now turns to the fall, when the justices are expected to weigh whether to hear the $83.3 million appeal — a decision that could have far-reaching consequences for the presidency itself.