From the journalist to the Fed to voting by mail: the Supreme Court sinks Trump

Millionaire compensation to the journalist (who accuses him of sexual assault)

The Supreme Court rejected the appeal presented by the American president against the sentence to pay five million dollars in compensation to the journalist and writer E. Jean Carroll, who she had sued him in 2019 for defamation and in 2022 also for assault.

This is ”a bogus lawsuit filed against me by a woman I have never met,” Trump commented on his Truth Social, saying he was ”surprised” by the Court’s decision and speaking of an ”injustice that cannot be tolerated”. ”I will continue to fight with all my might against this exploitation and legal war waged against me, including the ridiculous accusation of defamation,” Trump wrote, arguing that ”this lawsuit is actually against the United States of America and everything it stands for and should never be allowed to happen to another president or candidate.”

Carroll had sued Trump after New York State enacted a law allowing victims of sexual abuse to file civil claims for past incidents. ”The State of New York created a law with the goal of ‘framing’ me unfairly. It was tailor-made and this injustice cannot be tolerated!” Trump wrote in Truth after the Court’s decision.

In his 2022 lawsuit, Carroll she claimed she was sexually assaulted by Trump in a New York department store in the mid-1990s and was vilified after the tycoon said she had made it all up to boost sales of a book. Trump, who has repeatedly denied any heat, said U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the civil trial, made numerous errors by allowing the jury to hear testimony from two women who accused him of sexual assaults that occurred years earlier.

“Today’s Supreme Court decision confirms once and for all the jury’s unanimous verdict that President Donald Trump sexually assaulted and defamed E. Jean Carroll,” said the journalist’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan. “His multiple attempts to appeal this verdict have all failed and today’s sentence puts an end to his attempt to escape his responsibilities,” the lawyer added.

A spokesperson for the US president’s legal team said in a statement that “the American people stand with President Trump in demanding an immediate end to any witch hunt, including the Democrat-funded farce of the Carroll hoaxes.” The memo also reads that “President Trump will continue to win in liberals’ legislative war as he continues to focus on his mission of Making America Great Again.”

Lisa Cook remains at the Fed

The United States Supreme Court has also rejected, by a majority of 5 votes to 4, Donald Trump’s attempt to immediately remove the governor of the Federal ReserveLisa Cook, who will therefore remain in her place. As CNN explains, the decision signed by the President of the Court John Roberts represents a setback for Trump and reaffirms the principle of independence of the American Central Bank.

For her part, the governor of the Federal Reserve welcomed the decision, underlining that the ruling “confirms” the independence of the US Central Bank. “Today’s ruling confirms a principle that has underpinned sound economic management for generations: the Federal Reserve must make all its policy decisions based on hard data and independent judgment, free from political interference,” Cook said in a statement.

Trump for his part announced that he will take “immediate appropriate action” following the Supreme Court’s decision. In a post on Truth Social, the tycoon argued that the Court postponed the Cook case for “exclusively procedural” reasons and added that the administration will act quickly “to prevent people accused of irregularities from making decisions fundamental to the well-being of the United States”.

The president had attempted to remove Cook based on allegations of mortgage fraud, which the governor has always denied. The Court did not go into the merits of the accusations, limiting itself to establishing that Cook has the right to be informed and to be able to respond to the complaints before any decision on his assignment.

Valid mail-in ballots arriving up to 5 days after Election Day

The judges then cMississippi law allowing mail-in ballots to be considered valid if mailed by Election Day was confirmed by a 5-4 majorityeven if delivered up to five working days after the polls close.

According to CNN, the decision could also have repercussions on other states which provide for similar rules in view of the November elections and represents a defeat for President Trump’s administrationwhich had supported the challenge to the Mississippi law, arguing that counting ballots received after Election Day compromised the integrity of federal elections.

Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh voted against it. In her ruling, Judge Amy Coney Barrett wrote that “the voter’s choice is made when the vote is cast, not when the ballot is received.” Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson defended the rule by arguing that the essential requirement is that voters cast their votes by Election Day, regardless of when the ballot arrives at election offices.

Trump, speaking in the Oval Office, he also criticized this decision of the Supreme Court on postal voting, arguing that it could weaken the transparency of the electoral process.

“Because of the ruling on mail-in voting, which was a little surprising, people have more time to vote illegally,” said Trump, who called the court’s decision “very harmful to the conduct of honest elections.”