The Supreme Court on Monday denied President Trump's petition to rehear his appeal of the $5 million E. Jean Carroll verdict, a one-sentence order with no comment and no dissents that closes the door on one Carroll case while a far larger one still looms.
The justices issued the terse denial without explanation, rejecting Trump's argument that his pending presidential immunity defense in a separate Carroll lawsuit justified keeping the first case alive. Carroll, a former advice columnist who accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a Manhattan luxury store in the 1990s, already collected her $5 million payout plus interest last month. Trump denies her account.
The order caps a legal fight that has stretched across two civil trials, two jury verdicts, and multiple rounds of appeals, all while Trump has served as president. A jury in the first trial found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation and awarded Carroll $5 million. A second jury later awarded her $83.3 million over additional defamation claims. That second verdict remains before the Supreme Court on a separate appeal.
Rehearings at the Supreme Court are virtually never granted. Court rules limit them to cases where substantial "intervening circumstances" have occurred since the original denial. Trump's lawyers tried to clear that high bar by pointing to his still-pending presidential immunity argument in the second Carroll case.
In their petition, Trump's attorneys wrote to the Court:
"When a forthcoming or pending case may affect the proper disposition of another petition, the Court may hold the related petition, and later resolve it in light of the lead case."
They called it "a paradigmatic reason to at least hold a petition." The Court disagreed, or at least declined to say why it disagreed, offering only the single-sentence denial. No justice noted a dissent.
The Supreme Court had already declined to take up Trump's appeal of the first Carroll verdict back in June. Monday's order denied the request to reconsider that refusal.
Carroll received her $5 million payout plus interest last month, after a federal judge ordered the payment once the Supreme Court cleared the path. That money is now in her hands regardless of Monday's procedural outcome.
Carroll's legal team did not respond to Trump's rehearing motion in court. They also did not respond to a request for comment from The Hill.
A spokesperson for Trump's legal team issued a statement framing the litigation as politically motivated:
"The American People stand with President Trump as they demand an immediate end to all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes. President Trump will keep winning against Liberal Lawfare, as he continues to focus on his mission to Make America Great Again."
The statement's characterization of the Carroll cases as "Hoaxes" and "Lawfare" reflects the legal team's broader position that the litigation lacks merit and is driven by partisan opposition. Trump has maintained that posture throughout both trials.
Monday's denial resolves only the first Carroll case. The second, and far more consequential, verdict remains pending at the Supreme Court. That $83.3 million award dwarfs the first judgment, and Trump's legal team is advancing a presidential immunity defense that could raise constitutional questions about whether a sitting president can be held liable for statements made while in office.
Trump's lawyers explicitly argued that the outcome of the immunity question in the second case could have changed the Court's analysis of the first. The justices were unmoved. Whether the immunity argument gains traction in the larger case remains an open question, one that could carry significant implications for the scope of presidential legal exposure.
Meanwhile, the DOJ has opened a perjury investigation into Carroll over allegations of hidden funding from tech billionaire Reid Hoffman, a development that adds a layer of counter-narrative to a legal saga that Carroll's critics have long argued was financially and politically orchestrated.
The broader pattern of Trump facing adverse rulings in civil courts has become a recurring feature of his presidency. From federal judges voiding settlements to appellate courts blocking executive projects, the administration has fought on multiple legal fronts simultaneously, sometimes vowing to take those fights to the Supreme Court itself.
In the Carroll matter, that fight at the highest court is now half over. The $5 million is gone. The $83.3 million is not, yet. And the justices who said nothing on Monday will eventually have to say something about the case that remains.
When courts move in silence, the only people who pay are the ones waiting for an answer.
