On Monday, a federal appeals court panel upheld a jury’s verdict that found President-elect Trump liable for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll and ordered him to pay $5 million.
A three-judge panel on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit determined that Trump did not demonstrate sufficient evidence that any claimed errors harmed his rights or warranted a new trial.
“On review for abuse of discretion, we conclude that Mr. Trump has not demonstrated that the district court erred in any of the challenged rulings,” the panel stated in its unsigned opinion.
A New York jury found Trump guilty last year of sexually abusing Carroll in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the mid-1990s and defaming her by denying her story when she came forward during Trump’s first presidency.
In a separate case, a jury ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million in defamation damages for continuing to deny her allegations. Trump is still appealing that verdict, but Monday’s decision is a blow to his defense, which was based on the earlier sexual abuse judgment.
“Both E. Jean Carroll and I are pleased with today’s decision. “We appreciate the Second Circuit’s careful consideration of the parties’ arguments,” Carroll’s attorney, Robbie Kaplan, said in a statement.
Trump has vowed to continue challenging the jury’s verdict. He can now ask the full appeals court to reconsider Monday’s decision or take the case to the Supreme Court.
“The American People have re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate, and they demand an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system, as well as the swift dismissal of all Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoax, which will continue to be appealed,” Steven Cheung, a Trump spokesperson set to become his White House communications director, said in a statement.
“We look forward to uniting our country in the new administration as President Trump makes America great again,” Cheung told reporters.
Trump demanded a new trial, claiming that the jury heard improper testimony and that Trump was wrongfully barred from asking Carroll specific questions during cross-examination.
The panel rejected all of those arguments, ruling that testimony from two other women who accused Trump of sexual misconduct, as well as the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Trump is heard bragging about sexually grabbing women without their permission, were properly admitted as evidence.
One of the women, Jessica Leeds, testified that Trump kissed and groped her aboard an airplane in 1978 or 1979. The other woman, Natasha Stoynoff, testified that Trump pushed her against a wall and kissed her while she was working on a People magazine story about Trump’s marriage anniversary with Melania and the birth of their son, Barron.
Trump denies both Stoynoff and Leeds’ allegations.
The appeals court panel stated that the combination of the women’s testimony and the tape demonstrated that a jury could reasonably conclude Trump “engaged in similar conduct with other women — a pattern of abrupt, nonconsensual, and physical advances on women he barely knew.”
“Mr. Trump’s statements in the tape, together with the testimony of Ms. Leeds and Ms. Stoynoff, establish a repeated, idiosyncratic pattern of conduct consistent with what Ms. Carroll alleged,” the judge wrote.
Carroll’s lawsuits against Trump loomed large amid his numerous legal woes, and the cases became some of his most high-profile civil trials.
Donald Trump has repeatedly denied Carroll’s story and criticized her appearance. Earlier this month, the president-elect reached a $15 million settlement with ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos over the “This Week” host’s repeated mischaracterization of the verdict on air.
