President Trump’s lawyers are calling upon the Supreme Court to review the $83.3 million defamation award for E. Jean Carroll.
“This is the first case in our nation’s history in which a court has imposed damages liability on a president for his conduct in office,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. “Yet, in upholding the exorbitant $83.3 million defamation judgment here, the Second Circuit never even decided whether Presidential immunity applies to President Trump’s allegedly defamatory statements—statements made from the White House, in response to press questions, denying allegations of personal misconduct directly questioning his fitness for office.”
“Because accusations bearing on the President’s fitness for office are unquestionably matters of public concern, Presidential statements responding to press questions about such accusations are plainly official,” the filing adds. “This Court should say so.”
In a separate petition, the Department of Justice wrote, “Absent this Court’s intervention, the sitting President is facing nearly a hundred million dollars of personal liability for conduct that was well within the scope of his federal office. That alone deserves this Court’s attention.”
The $83 million is separate from another verdict ordering President Trump to pay $5 million to Carroll. Lawyers sought to block that payment as well, arguing, “Plaintiff’s request violates the plain terms of the parties’ Stipulation and Order, and would cause President Trump irreparable harm while not improperly disadvantaging Plaintiff in any way.” Lawyers added that “collection cannot begin while proceedings remain pending before the Supreme Court, which is currently the case.”
The Supreme Court declined to take up President Trump’s appeal of the $5 million judgment in June.
