U.S. President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to overturn a jury’s $83.3 million defamation award to writer E. Jean Carroll, according to a report published July 30. The U.S. Justice Department filed a separate, similar request. It remains uncertain whether the Supreme Court will agree to hear the new appeal.

Trump’s lawyers argue that his statements about Carroll while serving as president were part of his official duties and should therefore receive presidential legal immunity. Federal lawyers for the Justice Department said that without Supreme Court intervention, a sitting president could face nearly $100 million in personal financial liability for comments made within the scope of official responsibilities.

The filings cite the Westfall Act, which provides federal officials legal protection in some civil cases involving specified actions taken while performing official duties. Trump’s private lawyers also invoked the Supreme Court’s 2024 Trump v. United States ruling, which expanded presidential criminal immunity, while seeking to apply similar reasoning in civil litigation. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York rejected that argument last year. In June, the Supreme Court declined to hear Trump’s appeal of a $5 million penalty, which had grown to about $5.8 million with interest.