In their appeal for a $5 million judgment, the president’s lawyers said it would be a “grave harm” to the country for Trump to have to defend himself.
President Trump files $10 billion lawsuit against IRS and Treasury Department
President Trump and his sons have filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS and Treasury Department for leaking their tax returns to “left-wing newspapers.”
WASHINGTON – The president’s lawyers wrapped up their legal argument with a practical argument, arguing why the Supreme Court should overturn President Donald Trump’s $5 million judgment for sexually abusing and defaming author E. Jean Carroll.
He’s busy.
“It is deeply damaging to the fabric of our nation that President Trump, in the midst of his historic presidency, must shift focus away from his singular and unique mission as chief executive to continue fighting decades of false allegations and myriad wrongdoings throughout this baseless lawsuit,” Trump’s lawyers said in their final filing before the high court decides whether to hear Trump’s appeal as soon as this month. “This abuse of the president is unacceptable.”
But the brief was filed the same week that President Trump sued the Internal Revenue Service for $10 billion over leaked tax information.
President Trump has also filed defamation lawsuits against the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and BBC over the past year.
Mitchell Epner, a former New Jersey federal prosecutor, said, “No one who rushes to the courthouse door to file a lawsuit should be asked to say they are too busy to answer any case.”
“Trump is in a unique position.”
The extent to which President Trump relies on defamation and other civil lawsuits is unprecedented, said Timothy Zick, a professor at William & Mary School of Law.
Zick recently wrote, “No political candidate or president has wielded civil litigation as a political sword more than Trump.” “When it comes to civil litigation, Trump is in a class of his own.”
Even before his first term as president, Trump was already famous for legal skirmishes over everything from golf courses to Trump University’s tax bill.
A 2016 USA TODAY analysis of legal filings across the country found that Trump and his companies were involved in at least 3,500 lawsuits in federal and state courts over the past three decades. Litigation was one of his main negotiating tools. And he was often sued by others as well.
What did E. Jean Carroll allege in the lawsuit?
Carroll’s lawsuit against Trump began after she said in 2019 that Trump sexually assaulted her at a New York City department store in 1996. Trump fired back with claims that she was making up the story to sell books.
Several months later, Carroll sued him for defamation and ultimately won an $83.3 million judgment, which Trump continues to fight.
As the lawsuit progressed, Trump reiterated his denials of assault in 2022 social media posts. Carroll then sued Trump again under the special period granted to victims of sexual abuse by the state of New York, and in 2023 a New York jury found Trump liable for defamation and sexual abuse against Carroll. The result was a $5 million judgment that President Trump hopes the Supreme Court will overturn.
Appeals court rules against Trump
His lawyers have argued that the jury should not have been allowed to hear from two other women who say they were assaulted by Trump, or to consider a 2005 “Access Hollywood” recording in which Trump boasts about grabbing women by their genitals.
The New York-based 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Mr. Trump’s argument that the trial judge erred in allowing the evidence. And even if the judge was wrong, the appellate court ruled in 2024 that “we are not satisfied that the error or combination of errors asserted in the district court’s evidentiary ruling affected Mr. Trump’s substantive rights, considering the record as a whole and the strength of Mr. Carroll’s case.”
Neema Rahmani, a Los Angeles-based litigation expert and former federal prosecutor, said the evidentiary allegations raised by Trump’s lawyers are not the kind of issues the Supreme Court tends to take up.
The fact that Trump is appealing means the court may consider it, Rahmani said.
“Still, it’s unlikely,” he added.
Is Paula Jones’ lawsuit against Bill Clinton relevant?
As for Trump’s argument that the lawsuit interferes with the president’s duties, the Supreme Court addressed the issue in 1997 when it ruled that Paula Jones’ sexual harassment lawsuit against President Bill Clinton did not need to be stayed until after Clinton left office.
While recognizing the unique responsibilities of the president, the court unanimously said there are ways to accommodate the president’s busy schedule.
“We recognize that the president, like other government officials and private citizens, can be distracted or distracted by pending litigation,” Justice John Paul Stevens wrote. “Presidents and other officials face a variety of demands over time, some of which are personal, some political, and some as a result of their official duties.”
