Supreme Court justices are scheduled to hold a private conference on Feb. 20 to consider a slate of petitions for review, including one filed by President Donald Trump. Trump is asking the high court to review the 2023 verdict against him in a civil lawsuit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll.
The justices could act on Trump’s petition as soon as Feb. 23, Fox News reported. However, the Supreme Court typically considers petitions at two or more conferences before granting review. That means a decision may not be announced until March 2 or later, according to SCOTUS Blog.
Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, has previously downplayed the likelihood that the Supreme Court will take up the case.
“We do not believe that President Trump will be able to present any legal issues in the Carroll cases that merit review by the United States Supreme Court,” Kaplan said, according to The Associated Press.
In the petition, Trump’s attorneys described Carroll’s allegations as “facially implausible” and “politically motivated.”
They argued the accusations were “propped up” by what they called a series of indefensible evidentiary rulings that allowed Carroll’s attorneys to introduce evidence the Trump team opposed.
“President Trump has clearly and consistently denied that this supposed incident ever occurred,” Trump’s attorneys wrote.
“No physical or DNA evidence corroborates Carroll’s story,” the filing continued.
“There were no eyewitnesses, no video evidence, and no police report or investigation,” the attorneys wrote.
They also noted that Carroll waited more than 20 years to accuse Trump, doing so after he became president.
Trump’s attorneys argued the timing allowed Carroll to “maximize political injury” to Trump and “profit for herself.”
The petition further suggested Carroll’s allegations mirror the plot of a “Law & Order” episode, which the attorneys noted is one of her favorite television shows.
Trump’s legal team also objected to the admission of testimony from Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff.
Leeds alleged that Trump assaulted her on an airplane in 1979. Stoynoff claimed Trump attacked her at Mar-a-Lago in 2005.
The attorneys argued that both accounts contain credibility issues and inconsistencies.
They also objected to the admission of the 2005 “Access Hollywood” recording in which Trump made lewd remarks.
Carroll, a journalist and advice columnist, sued Trump twice after publishing a book in 2019. In the book, Carroll claimed Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in 1996.
Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations and has called the case “a complete con job.”
He has also said Carroll was “not my type.”
“I don’t know this woman, have no idea who she is,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in October 2022.
He said the only interaction he recalled was a photo taken at a charity event years earlier. Trump’s continued denials and criticism of Carroll led to her defamation claims.
In May 2023, a jury found Trump was not liable for rape. The jury did find him liable for sexual abuse and defamation. Carroll was awarded a total of $5 million in damages.
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz was likely caught off guard on Wednesday night in the Andrew Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., when President Donald Trump joked about nominating him for the U.S. Supreme Court.
During remarks promoting the administration’s new Trump Account initiative, Trump praised Cruz as “a brilliant legal mind,” The Daily Mail reported.
“He’s a brilliant man,” Trump said. “If I nominate him for the United States Supreme Court, I will get 100 percent of the vote. The Democrats will vote for him because they want to get him the hell out, and the Republicans will vote for him because they want to get him the hell out, too.”
The audience responded with laughter, though it was unclear whether Cruz shared the sentiment.
“No, just no,” Cruz said shortly afterward during an appearance on the Ruthless Podcast, according to video obtained by the Daily Mail.
“Hell no,” Cruz added.