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How have courts handled Trump’s statements about Carroll in relation to presidential immunity or official-capacity defenses?
Executive summary
Courts so far have rejected former President Trump’s effort to use presidential or official‑capacity immunity to escape the civil consequences of his statements about E. Jean Carroll, primarily because judges found the defense was raised too late and because appellate panels concluded intervening Supreme Court precedent did not change that outcome [1] [2] [3]. The Second Circuit and subsequent panels affirmed damages awards — including an $83.3 million defamation judgment — and repeatedly held that Trump waived an immunity defense by delaying its assertion, while the Justice Department later urged substitution in one posture but did not persuade the appeals court to vacate liability [2] [4] [5].
1. How courts treated the timing of the immunity claim — “You can waive it”
Judges emphasized procedural fairness: the Second Circuit and district court concluded Trump waited years to assert absolute presidential immunity (raising it in December 2022 for statements made in 2019) and that delay prejudiced Carroll’s ability to litigate whether the statements were official acts — so the courts deemed the defense waived and refused to allow it to defeat the suit [1] [6] [2]. Appellate judges explicitly said late invocation deprived Carroll of discovery and opportunity to test scope‑of‑duty facts, which is a classic waiver/prejudice rationale [7] [2].
2. Substantive arguments about “official acts” and the Supreme Court’s immunity doctrine
Trump’s teams argued that a later Supreme Court decision expanding presidential immunity for official acts should nullify the verdicts; courts have rejected that effort, finding either the new precedent doesn’t apply to preserve a claimed defense raised belatedly or that Trump failed to identify a change that would warrant reconsidering prior holdings [3] [4]. Appeals courts have said the Supreme Court’s later ruling did not alter their view that the immunity defense had been waived, and that nothing in the record showed grounds to overturn their prior immunity rulings [4] [3].
3. Role of the Justice Department and “substitution” arguments
The DOJ at times weighed in: in certain filings it argued that some statements could be characterized as acting in an official capacity and sought substitution of the United States as the defendant for alleged official‑act statements, a move that, if accepted, could shift responsibility from Trump personally to the federal government [8] [9]. But appeals panels rejected the broader immunity shield, and subsequent rulings affirmed that substitution or DOJ positions did not undermine the liability findings against Trump in these defamation proceedings [4] [5].
4. Remedies and damages survived immunity challenges
Even after the Supreme Court’s later immunity decision and renewed litigation over its scope, courts affirmed sizable damage awards: a panel upheld an $83.3 million defamation judgment and found the punitive damages not unreasonable, rejecting Trump’s contention that immunity or the new precedent required vacating the award [5] [3]. The Second Circuit explained that Trump had not identified valid grounds to reconsider their prior immunity holdings and that the district court’s rulings on evidentiary matters and damages were sound [4] [2].
5. Competing perspectives and legal fault lines
Trump’s lawyers and supporters maintain immunity is absolute for official acts and that the Supreme Court’s expansion of that doctrine should bar civil liability for statements made while president — a position the defense says cannot be forfeited merely by delay [10] [11]. Courts, however, have stressed procedural waiver and the public interest in accountability; judges warned that belated immunities can unfairly hamper plaintiffs’ ability to conduct discovery into official‑duty issues [7] [1]. The Justice Department’s amicus positions complicate the picture, showing executive branch interest in the contours of “official‑act” substitution even while courts decline to treat that as a blanket escape hatch [9] [8].
6. What’s unresolved and what to watch for
Trump has sought Supreme Court review of the Carroll verdicts and immunity questions; the high court’s decision whether to take the case — and, if it does, how it treats waiver versus substantive immunity — will be decisive [9] [11]. Available sources do not mention a final Supreme Court ruling resolving whether a president can raise absolute immunity belatedly to erase a prior civil judgment in cases like Carroll’s; courts to date have relied on waiver and prejudice doctrines to uphold liability [2] [4].
Conclusion — the current judicial posture is clear: lower courts and the Second Circuit have repeatedly refused to allow presidential‑immunity or official‑capacity defenses to defeat E. Jean Carroll’s defamation liability because Trump raised them too late and failed to show intervening law required reconsideration, though the question could be relitigated if the Supreme Court grants review [1] [2] [9].