A federal appeals court panel on Monday denied President-elect Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the jury verdict determining he was liable for sexually abusing and defaming columnist E. Jean Carroll.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit concluded that Trump had not sufficiently demonstrated that his rights had been jeopardized by mistakes in the legal process leading to the verdict in May 2023.
The three-judge panel determined that, even though Carroll presented no evidence of her claims, two other women who made sexual misconduct allegations against Trump and the infamous Access Hollywood tape amounted to enough evidence for a jury to conclude Carroll was telling the truth.
Carroll filed a defamation lawsuit against Trump in 2019 after he publicly denied sexually assaulting her in a New York City department store in the mid-1990s, The Daily Wire previously reported. Carroll made her accusations just days before her book was released, and Trump responded by saying he did not know Carroll.
“I’ve never met this person in my life. She is trying to sell a new book — that should indicate her motivation. It should be sold in the fiction section,” Trump said in his initial response to Carroll’s claims. “False accusations diminish the severity of real assault. All should condemn false accusations and any actual assault in the strongest possible terms. If anyone has information that the Democratic Party is working with Ms. Carroll or New York Magazine, please notify us as soon as possible.”
Carroll then provided a photo of herself with Trump at a party in 1987, which Trump dismissed because he often poses for photos with people he doesn’t know.
“Shame on those who make up false stories of assault to try to get publicity for themselves, or sell a book, or carry out a political agenda,” Trump also said. “It is a disgrace and people should pay dearly for such false accusations.”
In 2022, Carroll filed a second lawsuit against Trump for the alleged department store rape and again for defamation after he continued to deny her claims.
Jurors specifically rejected Carroll’s claim that Trump raped her but found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation. He was ordered to pay $5 million in damages. A second trial based on Trump’s continued denials of Carroll’s allegations was held, and Trump was ordered to pay Carroll $83.3 million in damages, The Daily Wire reported. Trump continues to appeal this verdict.
Though Carroll presented no evidence other than her allegation that Trump assaulted her – and a jury found that he did not rape her, the crux of her claim – they still determined he defamed her by denying the very allegation the jury itself found not to be true.
After winning the $83 million, Carroll told media outlets that she was going on a shopping spree, National Review reported.
