The Supreme Court has rejected Donald Trump’s second attempt to reverse a jury’s verdict finding him liable for sexual abuse and defamation that awarded E Jean Carroll more than $5 million.
Trump has been trying to claw back money that has already been paid out to the former Elle magazine writer while his lawyers asked the justices to reconsider their previous denial.
But on Monday, the justices shot him down a second time.
The Supreme Court is still considering his appeal of a second defamation verdict stemming from Trump’s years-long legal battle with Carroll, who was awarded an additional $83 million after the president repeatedly claimed he “never met” her while labeling her accusations a “hoax” and a “con job” — statements at the center of defamation lawsuits against him.
More than $5.6 million was disbursed to Carroll from a court-controlled escrow account on July 9.
Trump’s legal team then swiftly sought an injunction that would order Carroll to return the payment to the account in the hopes that the Supreme Court would grant his legal Hail Mary.
Rather than accept several court rulings against him, Trump “has engaged in a series of maneuvers trying desperately to forestall payment,” lawyers for Carroll wrote in court filings last month.
That payment to Carroll — more than three years after the jury’s verdict — “should have been the end of this case,” her lawyers added. “But Defendant now demands yet another unprecedented remedy. … The judgment here is final, the money has already been disbursed, and Carroll is entitled to keep it.”
Trump pledged he would not stop fighting against the verdict after the Supreme Court declined to take up his appeal in June.
“Surprisingly, the Supreme Court declined to ‘review’ a Fake Case brought against me by a woman I never met (Decades old celebrity photo line, standing with her husband, does not count!),” he wrote on Truth Social at the time.
“I will continue the fight against this Weaponization and Lawfare Case against me, including the ridiculous claim of Defamation, with all of my power and strength,” he added.
This is a developing story