President Donald Trump asked a federal appeals court Tuesday to\u00a0pause its ruling\u00a0rejecting his challenge to E. Jean Carroll\u2019s\u00a0$83 million defamation case\u00a0against him as he looks to take the case to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
Trump asked the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York to halt its ruling so he can present questions relating to presidential immunity and the Westfall Act to the high court.<\/p>\n
Carroll, a writer, won the damages after a federal jury decided that Trump defamed her when he repeatedly denied her accusation that he sexually abused her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in 1996.<\/p>\n
The federal appeals court\u00a0issued a ruling last week\u00a0rebuffing Trump\u2019s request for a hearing by the full bench of judges, or an \u201cen banc\u201d hearing, to challenge the $83 million Carroll won in 2024. The ruling opened the way for Trump to petition the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
Trump sought to invoke the Westfall Act to switch out his name as defendant and replace it with the United States. In a split vote, the majority denied the request to hear that challenge.<\/p>\n
The Westfall Act protects government employees from common lawsuits such as defamation while they are engaged in their official duties. Changing the defendant from Trump to the federal government would nullify Carroll\u2019s defamation case, as the U.S. government cannot be sued for defamation.<\/p>\n
In Tuesday\u2019s filing, Trump\u2019s legal team wrote, \u201cThere is also a fair, in fact, strong, prospect that the Supreme Court will reverse the Panel\u2019s Westfall Act decision.\u201d The filing added that there is \u201ca likelihood of irreparable harm\u201d against Trump if the court does not temporarily block Carroll from collecting her $83 million award.<\/p>\n
Carroll\u2019s legal team responded to the request within the court filing, writing that she does not oppose the motion as long as Trump raises the bond by $7.46 million to account for the post-judgment interest that would accrue during Supreme Court proceedings.<\/p>\n
In a statement to NBC News, a spokesperson for Trump\u2019s legal team said they would pursue their appeal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe American People stand with President Trump in demanding an immediate end to the unlawful, radical weaponization of our justice system, and a swift dismissal of all of the Witch Hunts, including the illegal, Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes\u2014the defense of which the Attorney General has determined is legally required to be taken over by the Department of Justice because Carroll based her false claims on the President\u2019s official acts,\u201d the spokesman said.<\/p>\n
Carroll\u2019s legal team told NBC News on Wednesday evening that it could not comment on the matter further.<\/p>\n
The Justice Department said in a separate filing in the case Tuesday that it will ask the Supreme Court to consider Trump\u2019s argument.<\/p>\n
That filing, signed by Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate, said it finds \u201cgood cause\u201d in Trump\u2019s request to pause the 2nd Circuit\u2019s ruling, as the federal government will ask the Supreme Court to overturn the lower court\u2019s ruling and allow Trump\u2019s name to be removed as a defendant.<\/p>\n
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
A three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit\u00a0first rejected an appeal from Trump that was based on presidential immunity in September.<\/p>\n
Trump also asked the high court to consider\u00a0his appeal against a separate $5 million lawsuit\u00a0from Carroll. Trump filed that appeal in November after a federal appeals court\u00a0rejected his challenges\u00a0to the lawsuit in June.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0$5 million lawsuit\u00a0focused on comments he made about Carroll after his first term ended, as well as the alleged assault itself. The $83 million lawsuit instead was centered on the disputes Trump made about Carroll\u2019s accusation while he was president.<\/p>\n
Trump first began his public denials about Carroll in 2019, when he\u00a0called her a liar, and he has characterized the claims against him as a \u201choax\u201d and a \u201ccon job.\u201d Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing, claimed that Carroll came forward with the accusation of sexual assault only to spur more sales of her upcoming book.<\/p>\n
This article was originally published on\u00a0NBCNews.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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