Donald Trump has asked a federal appeals court to temporarily halt its decision upholding an $83 million defamation judgment won by writer E. Jean Carroll, buying time to escalate the fight to the Supreme Court.
Trump filed the request Tuesday with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, arguing that the high court should have the chance to weigh in on two legal questions central to his defense: presidential immunity and the Westfall Act.
The appeals court rejected Trump's request last week for a full panel hearing to revisit the case. That decision left the $83 million judgment intact but opened the door for Trump to seek Supreme Court review. On Tuesday, Trump's legal team told the appeals court there is a "strong prospect" the Supreme Court will reverse the lower court's rejection of his Westfall Act argument.
The Westfall Act shields federal employees from private lawsuits like defamation claims when they are acting in their official capacity. Trump's strategy hinges on invoking this law to swap himself out as the defendant and replace him with the United States government. If successful, the maneuver would effectively kill Carroll's case, since the federal government cannot be sued for defamation.
A federal jury awarded Carroll $83 million in 2024 after finding that Trump defamed her when he repeatedly denied her allegation that he sexually abused her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in 1996. Trump has consistently called the claims a hoax and a con job designed to boost sales of her book.
Carroll's legal team said it will not oppose Trump's request to freeze the judgment, but only if he posts an additional $7.46 million to cover post-judgment interest that would accumulate while the case winds through Supreme Court proceedings. Her lawyers declined further comment on Wednesday evening.
The Justice Department weighed in with its own filing Tuesday, signaling it will join Trump's appeal and ask the Supreme Court to overturn the 2nd Circuit's decision. Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate wrote that the government finds "good cause" in Trump's request to pause the appeals court ruling.
This is one of two Carroll defamation cases heading toward the Supreme Court. Trump also filed a separate appeal in November challenging a $5 million judgment from a different lawsuit stemming from comments he made about Carroll after leaving office. The appeals court had rejected his challenges to that case in June.
Trump's denials of Carroll's allegations began publicly in 2019, when he called her a liar. He has maintained his position ever since, insisting that the claims are fabricated.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Trump's Westfall Act gambit is a bold legal play, but asking the Supreme Court to erase a jury's verdict by swapping the defendant to the government sets a dramatic precedent that the justices may not want to set."
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