Former US President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to review a $5 million civil case where he was found to have sexually assaulted and defamed magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll.

A federal appeals court upheld the verdict and $5 million judgment last year, concluding the trial judge did not commit errors serious enough to grant a new trial. In June, Trump’s bid for the full appeals court to hear the case was also rejected.

Lawyers for Trump argued that Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the civil trial, improperly allowed testimony from two women who testified that Trump sexually assaulted them many years ago.

They also argued jurors should not have been allowed to view the “Access Hollywood tape,” on which Trump was recorded in 2005 making lewd comments about women.

Carroll had sued Trump over the alleged sexual assault in a New York department store in the mid-1990s and claimed he defamed her in 2019 by denying the assault, suggesting she wasn’t his type, and saying she fabricated the story to boost book sales.

“There were no eyewitnesses, no video evidence and no police report or investigation,” Trump told the Supreme Court in his Monday appeal.

“Instead, Carroll waited more than 20 years to falsely accuse Donald Trump, whom she politically opposed, until after he became the 45th president, when she could maximise political injury to him and profit for herself.”

The Supreme Court has not yet formally docketed the appeal. It’s unclear whether the court will take the case, but it’s likely not the last of the legal challenges involving Carroll.

A jury in a separate trial in 2022 found Trump liable for defaming Carroll and ordered him to pay $83 million in damages.

A federal appeals court upheld that award, calling it “reasonable in light of the extraordinary and egregious facts,” and rejected Trump’s legal challenges, including claims of presidential immunity.

Trump is now asking the full bench of Supreme Court judges to review the case.

The Justice Department filed an amicus brief supporting review of whether presidential immunity can be waived for civil damages tied to official acts.

Carroll’s response is expected in the coming weeks.