President Donald Trump and the Department of Justice have separately asked the Supreme Court to overturn an $83.3 million civil defamation verdict in favour of writer E. Jean Carroll, filings made public on July 28 show.
Trump's lawyers argue he is entitled to presidential immunity for comments he made in 2019 while in office, when he denied Carroll's allegations that he sexually abused her in 1996. The DOJ petition contends the U.S. government should have been substituted for Trump as defendant under the Westfall Act, a move that would effectively nullify Carroll's case. A jury awarded Carroll the $83.3 million in a 2024 ruling after finding Trump defamed her.
The appeals come weeks after the Supreme Court declined in June 2026 to review a separate $5 million verdict Carroll won against Trump in a related case. Carroll received that $5 million plus interest from a court fund on July 15.