US President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to throw out a jury's finding in a civil lawsuit that he sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll at a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s and later defamed her. Trump's lawyers argued in a lengthy filing with the high court that allegations leading to the USD 5 million verdict were "propped up" by a "series of indefensible evidentiary rulings" that allowed Carroll's lawyers to present "highly inflammatory propensity evidence" against him. Carroll, a longtime advice columnist and former TV talk show host, testified at a 2023 trial that Trump turned a friendly encounter in spring 1996 into a violent attack in the dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury retailer across the street from Trump Tower. The jury also found Trump liable for defaming Carroll when he made comments in October 2022 denying her allegation. Trump's lawyers, led by St. Louis, Missouri-based attorney Justin D. Smith, called Carroll's claims a "politically motivated hoax." They accused the trial judge, Lewis A. Kaplan, of warping federal evidence rules to bolster Carroll's "implausible, unsubstantiated assertions."

They said that by upholding the verdict, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was in conflict with other federal appeals courts on how such rules should be applied. "President Trump has clearly and consistently denied that this supposed incident ever occurred," Smith and his co-counsel wrote. "No physical or DNA evidence corroborates Carroll's story. There were no eyewitnesses, no video evidence, and no police report or investigation." A message seeking comment was left with Carroll's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan. In September, when Trump's lawyers first indicated they would appeal to the Supreme Court, she said, "We do not believe that President Trump will be able to present any legal issues in the Carroll cases that merit review by the United States Supreme Court." A spokesperson for Trump's legal team said in a statement the Supreme Court appeal was part of the president's crusade against "Liberal Lawfare."