SCOTUS Rejects Trump’s Request to Slither His Way Out of Paying E. Jean Carroll $5 Mil.
The Supreme Court on Monday said it would not review the 2023 verdict, in which a jury found he sexually abused the writer in a department store in the 1990s.
Photo: Getty Images JusticeTrump Administration e. jean carroll
It’s been a grim fucking cacophony of one evil tactic after another since a New York court a few years back found Trump liable of sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s—but on Monday, the Supreme Court shut down one of the president’s most shameless attempts to weasel out of the jury’s verdict.
That’s right; SCOTUS has officially rejected a request from Trump to review the lower court’s 2023 judgment, in which a jury found he sexually abused her in a department store in the 1990s, and later attempted to defame her for publicly accusing him of the assault. The case concluded with her being awarded $5 mil. in damages—was promptly followed by an immediate appeal request by Trump, which he filed in 2024.
In his request for review, Trump’s lawyers claimed the judge broke federal evidence rules, for example disputing the use of the “Access Hollywood” tape—in which he infamously drops the “grab ’em by the pussy” line. The argument was that evidence like this was wrongly allowed by the judge, and that it was not standard for a federal appeals court to use the tape.
Shamelessly, the attorneys also attempted to claim all this was some sort of distraction from Trump’s presidential duties, saying “this mistreatment of a President cannot be allowed to stand.”
Writing in opposition of a review, Carroll’s lawyers argued Trump’s “entire petition” existed on a “misstatement of fact” claiming her accusations were false to begin with, and that using other women’s testimonies was relevant because the allegations were similar. “This question is not worthy of review,” they wrote.
Trump starts today as a loser. E. Jean Carroll wins. The Supreme Court has declined to hear his appeal of her defamation verdict against him. It’s over, and it’s time for him to pay up.
open.substack.com/pub/joycevan…— Joyce White Vance (@joycewhitevance.bsky.social) June 29, 2026 at 3:05 PM
“Today’s Supreme Court decision affirms once and for all the jury’s unanimous verdict that President Donald J. Trump sexually assaulted and defamed E. Jean Carroll,” Roberta Kaplan, a lawyer for Carroll, announced of Monday’s ruling. “His multiple efforts to appeal that verdict have all failed and today’s ruling ends his quest to avoid accountability for his actions.” Trump’s team, meanwhile, unashamedly whined responded that “they demand an immediate end to all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes.”
SCOTUS did not provide any details of explanation behind its rejection—which is typical—and there were no notable dissents.
Unfortunately, this may not be the last we hear of Trump attempting to pull such a move. In a second trial between Carroll and Trump, a jury ruled in 2024 that he must also shell out $83.3 million in compensatory damages for defaming her in 2019 after accusing him of rape—and per court records, Trump’s lawyers are also planning to ask justices to hear that case, too.
And, perhaps most heinous of all, exactly one month ago Trump sicced his Justice Department on Carroll, and opened a criminal investigation into the evidence used in the trial. If only that branch of the stupid revenge tour could also end at the Supreme Court.
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