Former President Donald Trump has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a $5 million civil verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s and defaming her with public denials in 2022. Trump’s legal team argues that the case was tainted by improper judicial decisions, including the admittance of testimony from other women alleging similar conduct. They claim the evidence was insufficient, lacking physical proof or eyewitnesses, and characterized the claims as politically motivated. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/be62982deb6821b62e0471f5bea3e64d?utm_source=openai))
Carroll had testified during the 2023 trial that the assault occurred in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman. A jury also later awarded her an additional $83.3 million in a related defamation case. Trump’s team argues that trial errors prevented him from contesting the original findings in the second trial. Lower courts, including the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, upheld the verdicts. Trump’s lawyers now hope the Supreme Court, with its conservative majority, might consider his appeal. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/be62982deb6821b62e0471f5bea3e64d?utm_source=openai))
Trump’s legal team, led by attorney Justin D. Smith, contends that the trial judge, Lewis A. Kaplan, made a series of indefensible evidentiary rulings that allowed Carroll’s lawyers to present highly inflammatory propensity evidence against him. They argue that by upholding the verdict, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was in conflict with other federal appeals courts on how such rules should be applied. ([washingtonpost.com](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/11/10/trump-carroll-abuse-defamation-supreme-court/7c6fdf68-be8e-11f0-8eee-a78486b4c797_story.html?utm_source=openai))
In response to the appeal, a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team stated that the Supreme Court appeal was part of … .” They claimed that the American people stand with President Trump as they … witch hunts, including the Democrat-funded trav … hoaxes. ([washingtonpost.com](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/11/10/trump-carroll-abuse-defamation-supreme-court/7c6fdf68-be8e-11f0-8eee-a78486b4c797_story.html?utm_source=openai))
Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan … has previously expressed skepticism about the success of Trump’s appeal. In September, when Trump’s lawyers first … .” ([washingtonpost.com](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/11/10/trump-carroll-abuse-defamation-supreme-court/7c6fdf68-be8e-11f0-8eee-a78486b4c797_story.html?utm_source=openai))
The Supreme Court’s decision on whether to hear the case remains pending. If the Court declines to take up the appeal, the lower court’s verdicts will stand, requiring Trump to pay the awarded damages. Conversely, if the Court agrees to hear the case, it could lead to a reevaluation of the evidentiary standards and judicial decisions made during the initial trials.
For a visual summary of the case, you can watch the following video: