President Donald Trump on Monday asked the Supreme Court to review a $5 million civil judgment that found him liable for sexually assaulting and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll.
In 2023, a jury returned its verdict after finding Trump guilty of sexual assault following Carroll's allegations that Trump assaulted her in a Manhattan department store locker room in 1996 and then defamed her during his first term, calling her allegations a “hoax” and a “scam.”
“There were no eyewitnesses, no video evidence, no police report or investigation,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in their brief to the Supreme Court.
“Instead, Carroll waited more than 20 years to falsely implicate Donald Trump, whom she politically opposes, until he became the 45th president, when she could maximize political damage to him and benefit herself,” the document states.
It is unclear whether the high court will hear the civil case.
CNN first reported according to Trump's statement in court.
A spokesman for Trump's outside legal team said in a statement about the lawsuit: “The American people stand with President Trump as he demands an immediate end to all witch hunts, including the Democratic-funded parody of the Carroll hoax. President Trump will continue to win the fight against liberal legislation as he continues to focus on his mission of making America great again.”
Carroll's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, declined to comment to NBC News last night.
A federal appeals court last year upheld the decision after Trump said U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversaw the case, erred in allowing the two women to testify. Jessica Leeds And Natasha Stoinova — whose allegations of sexual assault Trump has denied.
Last December, a panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Kaplan did not “abuse his discretion” by allowing them to testify.
Trump also asked the appeals court to rehear the case in June, but was denied.
Trump has repeatedly sought to overturn court rulings in Carroll's cases against him. A separate appeal filed by Trump to overturn Carroll's decision Last year the libel judgment was $83 million. in a case involving his defamatory comments about her during his presidency and after the $5 million verdict, failed in September.
