General Discussion

The Supreme Court declined to review President Donald Trump’s appeal in one of the cases in which writer E. Jean Carroll won a multimillion-dollar jury award against him.

The court’s action Monday concerned the $5 million in damages awarded by a New York jury that found the president abused and defamed Carroll, who had accused him of sexually assaulting her decades ago in the dressing room of a luxury department store.

The president argued that his appeal presented important legal issues regarding evidence. He complained that the trial judge wrongly allowed, among other things, the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape in which he bragged about grabbing women by their genitals. He said the New York-based federal appeals court’s approval of the tape’s admission conflicted with how other federal appeals courts handle evidentiary issues.

Carroll opposed review, writing that Trump’s “entire petition” to the justices was based on the “misstatement of fact” that she falsely accused him of sexual assault. And she argued that Trump failed to raise any legal issues warranting the court’s attention....

Trump has a separate pending appeal against Carroll regarding the $83.3 million award she won against him, which one of his lawyers said he would also be petitioning the justices to review. That lawyer, Justin Smith, said in a June 2 letter that Trump expects to file his second petition to the justices “within the next month.” Since filing that letter, Smith was confirmed as a federal appeals court judge, and another lawyer at his firm is now listed as lead counsel on the Carroll docket. That new lead lawyer, Michael Martinich-Sauter, did not answer an MS NOW inquiry that asked when exactly the president’s second Carroll petition will be filed.