E. Jean Carroll Urges Supreme Court to Reject Trump Appeal in $5 Million Abuse and Defamation Case

E. Jean Carroll’s lawyers have filed a brief at the U.S. Supreme Court opposing Donald Trump’s petition to overturn the $5 million civil verdict a New York jury awarded her for sexual abuse and defamation, urging the justices not to hear the case. Trump’s petition argues the trial judge wrongly allowed jurors to see the 'Access Hollywood' tape and other evidence, claiming the 2nd Circuit’s approval of those rulings conflicts with other federal appeals courts and raises an 'important question of federal law.' Carroll’s team counters that Trump’s entire petition rests on a factual misstatement that she falsely accused him, details what the jury actually found he did to her in a 1996 department‑store dressing room, and argues there is no genuine circuit split. They also say Trump’s lawyers never showed how any alleged evidentiary error affected his 'substantial rights,' calling that omission a 'fatal defect' under the standards for Supreme Court review. The justices will now consider Trump’s petition, Carroll’s opposition and any reply brief from Trump’s lawyers before deciding whether at least four of them want to grant certiorari, a step the Court takes in fewer than 60 cases per term.