US SUPREME COURT REJECTS TRUMP'S SECOND BID TO OVERTURN CARROLL VERDICT

The US Supreme Court has declined President Donald Trump's request to reconsider its earlier rejection of his attempt to overturn a federal civil jury verdict finding him liable for sexually abusing and defaming writer E Jean Carroll. The court issued the decision as part of an order list on Monday without providing explanation for why the justices declined to rehear the case. Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and argued that the judge who oversaw the civil trial improperly allowed evidence that affected the jury's perceptions. In July, Trump paid Carroll more than $5m in damages following the jury's initial verdict, and subsequently posted on Truth Social that he branded the incident a hoax.

Carroll, a former magazine columnist, sued Trump over an alleged assault in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. The defamation claim stemmed from a 2022 post on Truth Social in which Trump denied the allegations and stated Carroll was "not my type". Legal experts described Trump's request to reconsider the June rejection as an unusual long-shot legal manoeuvre, noting that the court rarely grants similar requests.

Following the decision, Carroll thanked her legal team and supporters in a newsletter distributed on Monday. Her attorney, Roberta Kaplan, stated that the jury's verdict finding Trump sexually assaulted and defamed Carroll "is now final and cannot be challenged in any court". In a Truth Social post following the earlier June decision, Trump characterised the case as "weaponisation and lawfare" and stated it should never happen to another President or candidate.