NEW YORK — A federal appeals court has upheld an $83.3 million jury verdict against former President Donald Trump for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll. The court ruled on Monday that Trump’s actions regarding Carroll’s accusations of a decades-old rape in a Manhattan department store constituted defamation. This ruling comes after a jury also found Trump liable for sexual abuse related to the same incident.
In its unanimous decision, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit dismissed Trump’s assertion that a Supreme Court decision regarding presidential immunity should shield him from accountability in Carroll’s lawsuit. The court stated that it saw no errors in the district court’s rulings and deemed the jury’s damage awards reasonable given the severity of the case.
Carroll’s legal team argued during the trial that Trump’s continued verbal attacks against her, including disparaging comments made on social media and at news conferences, warranted a substantial financial penalty aimed at curbing his conduct. Of the total award, $65 million was designated as punitive damages due to a jury finding that Trump acted with malice.
In December, a different panel from the same court upheld a separate civil decision that awarded Carroll $5 million in damages after the jury determined Trump was liable for sexually abusing her in a fitting room at Bergdorf Goodman during the mid-1990s and for defamation stemming from remarks he made in 2022.
Carroll, now 81 and a former columnist for Elle magazine, has claimed that Trump assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room around 1996. After she went public with her accusations, Trump denied the allegations in June 2019, stating in an interview that Carroll was “not my type” and suggesting that she fabricated her story to promote her 2019 memoir, “What Do We Need Men For?”
In June, Carroll published a follow-up memoir titled “Not My Type: One Woman vs. a President,” which recounts her ongoing legal battles against Trump and further details her experiences.
This string of court rulings contributes to an unfolding narrative surrounding high-profile allegations and the legal repercussions faced by influential figures. The outcome of Carroll’s lawsuits reflects both the complexities of defamation claims and the scrutiny public figures face regarding their words and actions.
Underlining the significant legal challenges for Trump, these cases illuminate not only individual accountability but also the broader implications for public discourse and behavior among high-profile individuals.
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