Supreme Court rejects Trump's appeal of $5 million E. Jean Carroll sexual abuse verdict

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 29, 2026 declined to hear President Donald Trump's appeal of a 2023 jury verdict finding him liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, leaving intact a $5 million judgment. Carroll sued Trump in 2022 under a New York law aiding sexual assault survivors, alleging he assaulted her in a department store dressing room in 1996. Trump's appeal challenged the admission of testimony from other women accusing him of misconduct and the Access Hollywood tape, but the 2nd Circuit upheld the verdict in 2024. A separate $83.3 million defamation judgment against Trump remains on appeal, with Trump claiming presidential immunity.

Supreme Court appeal rejection

• ▪The Supreme Court's refusal to hear Donald Trump's appeal means the 2023 jury verdict and a $5 million civil judgment remain in place
• ▪E. Jean Carroll's attorney Roberta Kaplan stated that the Supreme Court decision on June 29, 2026 affirms the jury's unanimous verdict that Donald Trump sexually assaulted and defamed E. Jean Carroll
• ▪The Supreme Court refused to hear Donald Trump's attempt to overturn a jury's finding that Donald Trump sexually abused and later defamed E. Jean Carroll on June 29, 2026

Carroll sexual abuse verdict

• ▪E. Jean Carroll filed a federal lawsuit in New York City alleging that Donald Trump assaulted E. Jean Carroll in the dressing room of a department store in 1996
• ▪A 2023 jury found that Donald Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll

Defamation claims against Trump

• ▪E. Jean Carroll filed a second suit against Donald Trump in 2022, in part under a New York state law aimed at assisting survivors of sexual assault from years ago
• ▪The second suit E. Jean Carroll filed against Donald Trump was the first to go to trial
• ▪The second suit E. Jean Carroll filed against Donald Trump included post-presidency defamation claims against Donald Trump
• ▪The defamation claims against Donald Trump relate to statements Donald Trump made about E. Jean Carroll after Donald Trump's first term in office, in which Donald Trump described E. Jean Carroll's claims as a "con job" and "hoax"
• ▪E. Jean Carroll first made allegations against Donald Trump in 2019
• ▪E. Jean Carroll sued Donald Trump for defamation in 2019 after Donald Trump called E. Jean Carroll a liar who'd made up the claim to get rich

Trial evidence disputes

• ▪The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the jury verdict in 2024
• ▪Donald Trump's lawyers said Judge Lewis Kaplan shouldn't have allowed jurors to view the "Access Hollywood" tape in which Donald Trump could be heard speaking disparagingly about women
• ▪The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the issues about which evidence should have been admitted at trial weren't a determining factor in upholding the verdict

Trump legal team response

• ▪Donald Trump stated on June 29, 2026 that "This Case is really against the United States of America, and all it stands for, and should never be allowed to happen to another President, or Candidate to be!"
• ▪A spokesman for Donald Trump's legal team called the E. Jean Carroll case a "Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes."
• ▪Donald Trump vowed to keep fighting the case "with all of my power and strength" on June 29, 2026

Separate $83.3 million judgment

• ▪E. Jean Carroll filed a separate defamation claim against Donald Trump that led to an $83.3 million judgment
• ▪The separate defamation claim that led to an $83.3 million judgment concerns statements Donald Trump made while Donald Trump was in Donald Trump's first term in office
• ▪The earlier case concerning statements Donald Trump made while Donald Trump was in Donald Trump's first term in office is still on appeal