NEW YORK: 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 from Carroll’s lawsuit. The same court on June 13 upheld Carroll’s separate $5 million jury verdict against Trump in May 2023 for a similar defamation and for sexual assault.
Carroll, 81, a former Elle magazine columnist, accused Trump of attacking her around 1996 in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room.
Trump first denied her claim in June 2019, telling a reporter that Carroll was “not my type” and concocted the story to sell her memoir “What Do We Need Men For?”
He essentially repeated his comments in an October 2022 Truth Social post, leading to the $5 million verdict, though the jury did not find that Trump raped Carroll.
The $83.3 million award included $18.3 million of damages for emotional and reputational harm, and $65 million of punitive damages. In his latest appeal, Trump argued that the U.S. Supreme Court’s July 2024 decision providing him with substantial criminal immunity shielded him from liability in Carroll’s civil case.
He also said he spoke about Carroll in 2019 in his capacity as president, and that failing to immunize him could undermine the independence of the Executive Branch.
Trump also said U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversaw both trials, made other mistakes, including by striking his testimony that in speaking about Carroll, “I just wanted to defend myself, my family, and frankly the presidency.”
In June, Carroll released another memoir, “Not My Type: One Woman vs. a President,“ about her legal battles against Trump – REUTERS
