What legal actions did E. Jean Carroll bring and what were the key dates and outcomes?
Executive summary
E. Jean Carroll brought two related federal civil lawsuits against Donald J. Trump — initially for defamation tied to his denials of her sexual-assault allegation and later adding a battery claim under New York’s Adult Survivors Act — and won jury verdicts finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and for defaming her, with juries awarding $5 million in May 2023 and an additional $83.3 million in a subsequent damages trial in January 2024 [1] [2]. The judgments survived appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and prompted further petitions to the Supreme Court from Trump’s side, which the high court was scheduled to consider at conference in February 2025 [3] [4].
1. Origins: Carroll’s 2019 allegation, initial federal suit and the Westfall Act fight
Carroll’s accusations began publicly in 2019 when she wrote that Trump had sexually assaulted her in the mid-1990s, and she filed a civil lawsuit that year alleging defamation after Trump repeatedly denied knowing her and said she was not his “type,” setting off years of litigation over whether statements were made within the scope of presidential employment under the Westfall Act [5] [6]. In October 2020, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected government attempts to substitute the United States as defendant under the Westfall Act, finding the statements were not within the scope of presidential duties, a ruling that kept Trump personally in the case and produced years of appeals and delay [6] [7].
2. The second suit and the Adult Survivors Act filing (late 2022)
With New York’s Adult Survivors Act creating a one‑year window to revive time‑barred sexual‑assault claims, Carroll filed a second action on Nov. 24, 2022 adding a battery claim tied to the mid‑1990s assault allegation and a defamation claim focused on an October 2022 Truth Social post, a procedural move that put the substantive assault allegation in a state‑law context and separated the issues the earlier federal filings had left unresolved [5] [7].
3. First trial: May 2023 liability verdict and $5 million award
A federal jury in Manhattan found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and for defaming her, returning a liability finding and awarding Carroll $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages in May 2023 after a nine‑day trial, with courts noting that criminal charges were time‑barred and this was a civil remedy for harm to Carroll’s reputation and career [3] [1] [5].
4. Post‑verdict statements, a second trial for more defamation damages, and the $83.3 million award
After the May 2023 liability verdict, Trump’s continued public statements led Carroll to pursue a second jury trial focused solely on additional defamatory statements made after the first verdict; that second trial resulted in a much larger damages award—reported as $83.3 million—reflecting the jurors’ view of repeated, aggravated public attacks on Carroll’s credibility [2] [8].
5. Appeals, affirmances and Supreme Court bids
Trump appealed, arguing evidentiary errors and other legal grounds, but the Second Circuit affirmed the liability findings and the $5 million award, concluding any alleged trial errors were harmless and within permissible bounds; the appeals process extended to petitions for Supreme Court review, which Trump sought and which the justices scheduled for a private conference consideration on Feb. 20, 2025 [3] [4]. Subsequent appeals also challenged the larger $83.3 million award; appellate courts upheld the verdicts and judgments, and reports detail continuing efforts by Trump to overturn the rulings, including filings as late as 2025 [8] [9].
6. Practical outcomes and open questions
The practical result of Carroll’s twin legal actions is binding civil liability against Trump, with combined judgments reported in the tens of millions and appellate courts largely rejecting his challenges to the trials’ evidence and procedures, though litigation continued as Trump pursued Supreme Court relief and other post‑verdict strategies — reporting documents these appeals and Supreme Court petitions but do not, in the provided sources, show final Supreme Court disposition as of the cited materials [2] [4] [3].