'It is a fact' Ted Lieu cites jury verdict after SCOTUS rejects Trump appeal in E. Jean Carroll case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by President Donald Trump to review a jury’s $5 million verdict in E. Jean Carroll’s suit against him, in which he was found to have sexually abused the writer at a New York City department store in the mid-1990s. While Trump said he was surprised by the court's decision, Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu cited the jury's verdict, saying it was a simple fact that he had sexually assaulted Carroll and the court had no doubts about it.  

In May of 2023, a New York jury awarded Carroll $5 million over her civil claim that Trump sexually assaulted her and then defamed her by branding the incident a hoax on social media. Trump denied the allegations and claimed evidence was wrongfully presented to sway the jury, as per BBC. However, a federal appeals court upheld the jury's decision, forcing Trump to take his appeal to the Supreme Court, which on Monday declined to take up the case, meaning the jury's verdict was final. Trump on Truth Social called it a "Fake case," claiming he never met Carroll and that he will continue to fight the "Weaponization and Lawfare" against him. "This Case is really against the United States of America, and all it stands for, and should never be allowed to happen to another President, or Candidate to be!" he wrote in his post, alleging that the State of New York hastily created a law to "nab" him in the case.

However, Lieu said following the decision it was clear that the allegations were true. "It is simply a FACT that a jury found Trump had sexually abused E. Jean Carroll," Lieu wrote on X, reacting to the news.

The president’s personal lawyers had appealed the lower court’s verdict, arguing that a judge improperly allowed jurors to hear biased statements from two other women who separately accused Trump of sexual assault. They further argued that the judge wrongfully allowed the playing of the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Trump was heard talking about grabbing women by their genitals. The first request was rejected by the Federal Appeals Court, which ruled the matter did not warrant a new hearing. This week, the Supreme Court also declined to hear the appeal without any noted dissents, which means the ruling of the lower court remains final, and Trump would have to pay $5 million to Carroll. 

Carroll celebrated the decision on Substack and on X, writing, “WE WON! THIS WIN IS FOR EVERY WOMAN IN THE WORLD!”

Her lawyer, Roberta A. Kaplan, said the court's decision “affirms once and for all" that the New York jury's unanimous verdict that Trump sexually assaulted and defamed Carroll was right. "His multiple efforts to appeal that verdict have all failed, and today’s ruling ends his quest to avoid accountability for his actions,” she said, according to the New York Times. Clinical psychologist, author, and Trump's niece,  Mary Trump, also rebuked the president on X, pointing out that the case wasn't against America but against only him.