Trump Loses Appeal Against $5M Verdict in E. Jean Carroll Case
A federal appeals court on Monday rejected U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s appeal against a $5 million jury verdict in E. Jean Carroll’s sexual abuse and defamation case. The court ruled that Trump failed to demonstrate any errors in the district court’s decisions.
In May 2023, a New York jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in 1996 and defaming her by calling her a liar. The jury awarded Carroll $2.02 million for sexual abuse and $2.98 million for defamation after deliberating for just three hours.
Trump denounced the case as the “greatest witch hunt of all time” and called the verdict a “disgrace.” His legal team argued that the trial court had improperly admitted evidence, including the Access Hollywood tape and testimony from other women who alleged similar misconduct.
Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, defended the evidence, stating, “Trump has a pattern of attacking women, beginning with chatting them up before suddenly pouncing.”
In a separate trial earlier this year, Trump was ordered to pay Carroll an additional $83.3 million for further defamation after he denied knowing her and dismissed her allegations by saying she was “not my type.”
Trump has continued to deny all accusations, labeling them as politically motivated. His attorneys claimed he couldn’t receive a fair trial in New York and criticized the verdict as a “miscarriage of justice.”
The appeals court’s decision adds to Trump’s mounting legal challenges as he prepares for his January 20 inauguration.
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