Donald Trump Asks Supreme Court to Overturn $83.3 Million E. Jean Carroll Defamation Verdict

President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to step into his long-running legal fight with writer E. Jean Carroll and overturn an $83.3 million defamation verdict.

Trump’s lawyers filed a petition July 28 urging the high court to review the 2024 jury award, arguing that he should be protected by presidential immunity because the statements at issue were made while he was in office. Carroll sued Trump in 2019, alleging he defamed her when he denied her claim that he sexually abused her in a dressing room in 1996 and said she made up the story to sell books.

Trump has denied all wrongdoing.

“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,” Trump’s lawyers wrote, calling the award “exorbitant.”

They also argued that the Westfall Act, which can shield federal employees from some lawsuits tied to official duties, should allow the U.S. government to replace Trump as the defendant. If that happened, Carroll’s claim would effectively end because the federal government cannot be sued for defamation.

Trump’s team wrote that the judgment could damage future presidents by making them fear personal liability for official acts.

“Donald Trump’s arguments have no legal footing whatsoever,” said Robert J. “Bob” McWhirter, a constitutional scholar, attorney, and author of Fixing the Framers’ Failure. “There is absolutely no reason to overturn the jury‘s verdict in this case. The Court of Appeals and Supreme Court have already said that. In fact, Trump‘s arguments are not even legally serious.”

McWhirter, who is not involved in the case, said the immunity claim does not fit the facts.

“Presidential immunity claims in this context are patently absurd,” he said.

“Just by virtue of being president, you don’t automatically get a pass on every terrible thing you’ve ever done — it doesn’t work that way,” he explained. “As many will recall, the Supreme Court held exactly that in the Paula Jones case against President Bill Clinton.”

Trump has already lost several rounds on immunity arguments in the $83.3 million case. A three-judge appeals panel rejected his appeal in September, and the full appeals court later declined to rehear it.

The Supreme Court also denied Trump’s request last month to review a separate Carroll case, in which a jury awarded her $5 million in 2023. That case focused on the alleged sexual abuse itself and statements Trump made after leaving office. Carroll collected that award this month after Trump tried to block payment in court.