A federal appeals court upheld an $83.3 million judgment against President Donald Trump for defamation against writer E. Jean Carroll in 2019.
A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit rejected on Monday Trump’s appeal of a January 2024 jury finding related to the president’s 2019 denial of Carroll’s allegation that he raped her at a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room sometime in the mid-1990s. Trump has repeatedly denied that the incident occurred, and his 2019 denials of the allegation led to Carroll filing the first of two defamation lawsuits against him.
The appeals court panel rejected Trump’s appeal, in which he argued he was entitled to presidential immunity for the statements he made denying Carroll’s accusation because he made them while serving his first term in the White House.
“We conclude that Trump has failed to identify any grounds that would warrant reconsidering our prior holding on presidential immunity. We also conclude that the district court did not err in any of the challenged rulings and that the jury’s damages awards are fair and reasonable,” the unsigned ruling from the panel said.
The three-judge panel that issued the ruling Monday was made up of two Biden appointees and one Obama appointee.
The ruling concerns the first of two defamation cases Carroll has brought against Trump. In the first case, Carroll was awarded $83.3 million for Trump’s 2019 comments. In the second case Carroll brought, a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing her during the alleged Bergdorf Goodman incident, along with finding him liable for defaming her with comments he made in 2022 denying the incident again, leading to a $5 million judgment against him.
TRUMP WILL APPEAL $5 MILLION E. JEAN CARROLL RULING TO SUPREME COURT
Trump could appeal Monday’s ruling and request an en banc review by the full bench of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals or appeal the case to the Supreme Court.
The president’s lawyers have told the Supreme Court they intend to appeal the $5 million judgment against him after a split full bench of the 2nd Circuit denied an appeal in June. A panel on the 2nd Circuit similarly rejected the appeal in that case in December.
