Letter to the editor: Supremes make Trump pay for sexual assault

First published in the Brunswick Beacon, 08.27.26

In 2024, the Supreme Court’s six Republican appointees, including three appointed by Trump, overturned 235 years of tradition by declaring presidents above the law for official acts. Still, even this Republican-packed court refused to excuse Trump’s sexual abuse of E. Jean Carroll.

In a disturbingly familiar echo of Trump’s refusal to take Carroll’s “NO” for an answer, the Court, for a second time, was forced to reject Trump’s demand that it overturn the unanimous jury verdict that found Trump liable for sexual assault.

In 2023, the jury found that Trump attacked Carroll in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman’s, and that Trump defamed Carroll by calling her testimony “a complete con job, a Hoax and a lie.” Even after the jury’s verdict, Trump again called Carroll a liar, which led to another defamation lawsuit. The first jury awarded Carroll $5 million. The second awarded her $83.3 million after Carroll’s lawyer implored them to make Trump stop.

He didn’t. Trump called the verdict “a disgrace” and “the greatest witch hunt of all time.” He asked the trial judge to rule that the jury disbelieved Carroll’s testimony that he raped her. He should have left bad enough alone — Judge Kaplan ruled that “the jury found that Mr. Trump in fact did exactly that.”

After every appeals court denied Trump’s overtures, he tried his hand with what he calls “my judges” on the Supreme Court. On June 29, they told him “NO.” Again, Trump refused to stop, much as he ignored Carroll’s attempt to rebuff his unwanted sexual advances. Trump pushed “his judges” to reconsider. On Aug. 17, they gathered up their robes and, one last time, told him “NO!”

Whatever he ultimately pays Carroll will be peanuts to Trump, who made billions from cryptocurrency, which he also regulates. No other president has engaged in such brazen self-dealing. Trump thinks he’s above the law. For once, he learned he’s not.

L. McGann

Leland