Trump and DOJ ask Supreme Court to toss $83 million defamation verdict in E. Jean Carroll case
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- Trump and the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to overturn the $83 million defamation verdict Carroll won in January 2024, with federal attorneys writing he faces "nearly a hundred million dollars of personal liability for conduct well within the scope of his federal office."
- The DOJ invoked the Westfall Act, which shields government employees from suits over job-related conduct, as its basis for seeking dismissal of Trump's personal liability for statements made during his first term.
- Trump's lawyers called the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling "procedural contortions" and labeled the damages "grossly excessive," arguing presidential immunity should protect him from the award for 2019 statements.
- This marks the second time Trump has asked the justices to nix Carroll damages; the Supreme Court refused in June to hear his appeal of a separate $5 million verdict finding him liable for sexual abuse and defamation.
- The 2nd Circuit split over its decision to uphold the verdict and agreed to delay the $83 million payout until the Supreme Court weighs in, while the earlier $5 million judgment has already been paid.
- Carroll testified before two New York juries that Trump sexually assaulted her in spring 1996 in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room, first going public with the claims in a 2019 memoir; Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
- The appeal lands roughly two years after the Supreme Court granted Trump broad immunity from criminal prosecution as a former president — a precedent his lawyers are now extending to civil damages liability.
Why it matters: If the Supreme Court agrees that the Westfall Act or presidential immunity shields Trump from the $83 million judgment, the sitting president would be insulated from personal civil liability for on-the-job statements — a first-of-its-kind outcome Carroll's lawyers have already signaled they will contest. The 2nd Circuit's split decision signals genuine legal uncertainty about whether official-act immunity extends to defamation damages, and the case arrives while Trump has $83 million in personal exposure hanging over his presidency.
