Trump can't use presidential immunity in E. Jean Carroll case as court deals another blow

Donald Trump will not be able to use "presidential immunity" as a defense in a defamation case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll after he claimed that he did not rape her.

A three-judge panel on the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled to uphold a federal judge's previous decision against Trump. The court found that Trump had waived his presidential immunity, and rejected his attempts to assert it as a defense now.

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"[R]ecognizing presidential immunity as waivable reinforces, not undermines, the separation of powers and the President's decision making authority by affording the President an opportunity to litigate if he so chooses. Accordingly, we hold that presidential immunity is waivable," Judge José Cabranes wrote.

Alina Habba, an attorney for Trump, said the ruling was "fundamentally flawed," according to The Hill. She vowed that Trump would take the case to the Supreme Court.