Trump Loses Immunity Bid in Carroll Defamation Suit

Facts

• The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan on Wednesday upheld a federal judge's ruling that former Pres. Donald Trump can't claim presidential immunity in the defamation case against him brought by writer E. Jean Carroll.¹
• In 2019, while he was president, Trump responded to Carroll's accusation that he sexually assaulted her by saying her claim was 'totally false' and calling her 'a woman who has also accused other men of things.'²
• In a different civil case that concluded in May, Trump was ordered to pay Carroll $5M because a jury found him guilty of sexual abuse and defaming her by denying her accusations in 2022. He has appealed that ruling.²
• In the defamation case, a three-judge panel has ruled that Trump had waived his presidential immunity by waiting too long to raise it. Trump's lawyers said they plan to appeal to the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS).³
• The 2nd Circuit also determined that US District Lewis Kaplan's June decisions — denying Trump's immunity claim and observing that the jury's findings in May applied to the defamation case as well — were correct.⁴
• Wednesday's ruling comes as the US Dept. of Justice requested SCOTUS rule on Trump's claims of presidential immunity in the criminal case related to his alleged attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.⁵

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²USA Today, ³NBC, ⁴Reuters.com and ⁵Forbes.

Narratives

• Pro-Trump narrative, as provided by FOX News. Trump should be able to invoke presidential immunity, regardless of how long it took for his defense to raise the issue. This is a flawed ruling, and SCOTUS must correct this wrong. Luckily, SCOTUS has been asked to take up a similar question in Trump's federal criminal case in Washington, so we'll soon find out if this political witch hunt against a former president and future Republican nominee can continue.
• Anti-Trump narrative, as provided by The daily beast. These are the legal ploys the twice-impeached, quadruple-indicted former president must enact to avoid accountability. Trump has committed so many crimes he can't possibly fight off all the charges. His current push to claim presidential immunity is not working out, and accountability is inevitable.

Predictions