Washington, D.C. — Former U.S. President Donald Trump has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a $5 million civil judgment that found he defamed and sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll.
Trump’s legal team argued that the trial judge, Lewis Kaplan, improperly allowed evidence that they claim unfairly influenced the jury’s opinion during the proceedings.
A federal appeals court had previously upheld the jury’s verdict, ruling that Judge Kaplan did not commit any legal errors that warranted a new trial.
E. Jean Carroll, a former magazine columnist, accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the 1990s. She later filed a defamation suit after Trump publicly denied the allegations, calling them a “hoax” and “fabrication.”
Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing and maintained that the accusations were politically motivated.
The Supreme Court’s decision on whether to hear the case will determine the next phase in the long-running legal battle between the former president and Carroll.