A federal appeals court on Monday refused to throw out an $83.3 million jury verdict against U.S. President Donald Trump for damaging the reputation of the writer E. Jean Carroll in 2019 when he denied her rape claim.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan rejected Trump’s argument that the January 2024 verdict should be overturned because he deserved presidential immunity.
It also faulted Trump’s persistence in attacking Carroll, with attacks against the former Elle magazine columnist becoming “more extreme and frequent” as the trial approached.
“The record in this case supports the district court’s determination that the ‘degree of reprehensibility’ of Mr. Trump’s conduct was remarkably high, perhaps unprecedented,” the unanimous three-judge panel said in its unsigned decision.
A different jury in May 2023 found Trump liable to Carroll for sexual abuse and defamation, but not rape, and awarded her $5 million. The appeals court upheld that verdict in June.
Both verdicts are among a slew of legal woes Trump faced after leaving the White House in 2021.
The Republican denied all wrongdoing, and on the campaign trail, portrayed his courtroom battles as part of a Democratic-led plot to undermine his ultimately successful 2024 campaign.
Trump is appealing other courtroom losses, including his May 2024 criminal conviction for falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal, and a fraud finding in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil lawsuit over his family business.
The appeals are continuing, though Trump received no prison time in the criminal case, and persuaded a New York state appeals court to throw out a roughly half-billion-dollar penalty in the civil case.
In a statement on Monday, Trump’s lawyers said: “President Trump will keep winning against Liberal Lawfare, as he is focusing on his mission to Make America Great Again.”
Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said in a statement: “We look forward to an end to the appellate process so that justice will finally be done.”
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