The President of the United States, Donald Trump, requested this Tuesday that the Supreme Court overturn the conviction that obliges him to pay US$83.3 million (more than 77 billion pesos) to the writer E. Jean Carroll for defamation, arguing that the statements that originated the trial were made while he was serving as President and, therefore, would be protected by presidential immunity.
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The petition, filed by lawyers Robert J. Giuffra and Michael C. Martinich-Sauter, seeks to reverse the ruling issued in January 2024 by a federal jury, which determined that the Republican leader had to compensate Carroll for comments made in 2019, when he publicly denied the sexual assault accusation made by the writer and questioned her credibility, calling the complaint an invention.
According to the Axios portal, the defense argues that such statements were made in response to press inquiries related to the then-president’s fitness to hold office, so, in their view, they constitute official acts “protected by presidential immunity”.
Trump’s lawyers had already unsuccessfully appealed the sentence before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. In their submission to the highest U.S. court, they state that this instance rejected the appeal on procedural grounds and did not resolve the substance of the argument regarding presidential immunity.
Likewise, they warn that maintaining the conviction could set a precedent that, according to their interpretation, would constitutionally weaken future presidents by exposing them to civil liabilities for statements made during the exercise of their functions.
The legal dispute between Trump and Carroll began in 2019, when the writer, known for her career as a columnist in New York, reported that the then-president had sexually assaulted her in the 1990s in a Manhattan store.
Trump categorically denied the accusation, starting a prolonged legal battle.
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In May 2023, a jury concluded that Trump was responsible for sexual abuse and defamation for statements made in 2022, ordering him to pay US$5 million in compensation.
Months later, in January 2024, a second jury ruled that the comments made by Trump in 2019 also constituted defamation and set an additional compensation of US$83.3 million in favor of Carroll.
The request now filed represents the second time in less than two months that the United States Supreme Court must rule on litigation related to Carroll.
Last June, the highest court refused to review the appeal filed by Trump against the US$5 million conviction issued in 2023. However, the president’s legal team later requested that this decision be reconsidered.
So far, E. Jean Carroll’s legal representation has not issued a public response regarding the new submission made by the U.S. president’s defense.
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