Appeals court rules Trump has no presidential immunity in E. Jeanne Carroll case

Dec. 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Wednesday ruled Donald Trump has no presidential immunity shielding him from the E. Jeanne Carroll rape libel suit.

The Wednesday appeals court ruling said, "We hold that presidential immunity is waivable and that Defendant waived this defense. Thus, the District Court did not err in its order denying Defendant's motion for summary judgment, nor did it err, much less 'abuse its discretion,' in denying his belated request for leave to amend his answer to add presidential immunity as a defense."

Trump lawyer Alina Habba said in a statement that the former president will seek a Supreme Court ruling on his immunity claims. She called the rejections of Trump's immunity defense by the appeals court "fundamentally flawed."

Carroll attorney Robbie Kaplan said in a statement, "We are pleased that the Second Circuit affirmed Judge Kaplan's rulings and that we can now move forward with trial next month on January 16."

That trial next month will decide how much more Trump must pay Carroll for her defamation claim.

The ruling comes just two days after Special Counsel Jack Smith took an appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court asking the court to quickly rule on Trump's immunity claims in the criminal case alleging Trump conspired to fraudulently overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The ruling is one of several rulings that have rejected Trump's immunity claims. Judge Tanya Chutkin ruled he has no presidential immunity in the federal criminal conspiracy charge that he illegally plotted to overturn the 2020 election.

A three-judge federal appeals court in Washington ruled unanimously Dec. 1 that Trump has no presidential immunity shielding him from Jan. 6 civil suits.

Trump was found liable in a civil lawsuit for sexually abusing Carroll in the 1990s and for defaming her in statements he made about the abuse.

Carroll asserts that he raped her.

A federal judge later ruled she could amend her complaint against Trump to seek $10 million more in damages for additional remarks Trump made about her after he lost the defamation case.

Trump failed to raise immunity for years in the Carroll defamation case. He was president when he made the original remarks Carroll maintains were defamatory.