A federal appeals court panel on Monday upheld a jury’s verdict holding President-elect Donald Trump liable for sexually assaulting advice columnist E. Jean Carroll and defaming her, affirming the $5 million judgment against him.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled that Trump failed to show any errors in the trial court’s decisions that would warrant overturning the verdict or granting a new trial. “Mr. Trump has not demonstrated that the district court erred in any of the challenged rulings,” the three-judge panel concluded in its unsigned opinion.
The upshot of this decision means Trump will not land a new trial against Carroll unless he seeks additional review by the full 2nd Circuit or appeals to the Supreme Court.
Trump communications director Steven Cheung told the Washington Examiner the “American People have re-elected President Trump” and have demanded the “swift dismissal of all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoax, which will continue to be appealed.”
“We look forward to uniting our country in the new administration as President Trump makes America great again,” Cheung said, referencing the inauguration of Trump on Jan. 20.
A New York jury found Trump liable last year for sexually abusing Carroll in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s and defaming her in 2022 by denying her account. Carroll also secured an $83 million defamation judgment in a separate trial over Trump’s earlier denials during his presidency. Trump is appealing that case as well.
During the appeal, Trump’s legal team argued the district court erred by admitting testimony from other women who alleged sexual misconduct by Trump and the Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump described groping women without consent.
The appeals court rejected these arguments, affirming the trial court’s rulings.
The decision keeps intact a significant legal finding against Trump as he prepares to assume the presidency in January 2025. He has repeatedly denied Carroll’s allegations, calling them politically motivated.
More recently, Trump scored a win over his own lawsuit related to this case against ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, who falsely claimed Trump “raped” Carroll when he described the outcome of Carroll’s case against him on live television.
ABC News agreed to a $15 million settlement deal so that Trump would drop his defamation suit, in addition to an apology to the president-elect and an agreement to pay $1 million in attorneys’ fees.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Although Trump’s reelection has all but staved off the four criminal cases levied against him along the campaign trail, he remains on the hook for any civil litigation penalties. Both Carroll cases are up for additional appeals, including a nearly $500 million civil fraud judgment levied against Trump in New York.
An appeals court in October weighed his appeal over whether a trial court erred in its hefty penalties against Trump for allegedly inflating his asset values to ensure favorable loans and insurance premiums and could soon rule to reduce the judgment or uphold the total fine.
