NEW YORK — A federal appeals court has ruled that former President Donald Trump is liable to pay E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million for defamation following his derogatory comments aimed at the advice columnist after she accused him of sexual assault.
On Monday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the findings of a civil jury, declaring the damages awarded to Carroll were both fair and reasonable. Trump’s attorneys had contested this decision, arguing it should be overturned based on a recent Supreme Court ruling that expanded presidential immunity. They also requested a retrial.
The jury in Manhattan had previously reached the $88.3 million verdict last year, focusing on Trump’s repeated social media tirades against Carroll, who alleged he assaulted her in a department store in Manhattan in 1996. This latest ruling builds on a separate trial where Trump was found liable for sexual abuse and ordered to pay $5 million. That previous judgment was upheld by an appeals court in December.
In her memoir and during a recent trial, Carroll recounted how a chance meeting with Trump at Bergdorf Goodman led to an encounter that escalated from flirtation to violence in a dressing room. She alleged that Trump forcefully assaulted her, though the jury determined he was liable for sexual assault rather than rape as defined under New York law.
Trump has consistently denied the incidents, claiming Carroll fabricated her story to promote her book and dismissing her by saying she was “not my type.” The jury in the latest trial awarded her $5 million to address both the alleged assault and the false statements made by Trump denying the incident.
Following the initial verdict, a second civil trial was conducted to determine additional damages related to Trump’s subsequent attacks on Carroll’s character. Notably, Trump attended this trial while actively campaigning for the presidency in 2024. Throughout the proceedings, he characterized the legal challenges as politically motivated efforts to tarnish his reputation and obstruct his election campaign.
Trump’s legal team expressed frustration over the trial court’s decisions, particularly regarding the restrictions on discussing his innocence concerning the assault allegations. The judge determined that the question of Trump’s guilt was already settled by the prior jury’s verdict.
The fallout from these court decisions marks a significant chapter in the ongoing legal battles involving Trump, who faces a complex landscape of lawsuits as he seeks to regain political prominence.
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