A federal appeals court recently upheld a jury’s decision in a civil case where Donald Trump was found to have sexually abused columnist E. Jean Carroll in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the $5 million award granted to Carroll for defamation and sexual abuse, siding with the Manhattan jury’s findings. The case stemmed from Carroll’s testimony during a 2023 trial, where she described how a friendly interaction with Trump turned into a violent attack after they entered the dressing room together in 1996.
Trump, who repeatedly denied the accusations, skipped the first trial but briefly testified at a follow-up defamation trial earlier in 2024. In this second trial, Trump’s comments from 2019, made while he was president, led to an additional $83.3 million in damages being awarded to Carroll. These comments were made after Carroll first publicly accused Trump in her memoir. The defamation trial considered his public statements about Carroll and his efforts to discredit her allegations.
Donald Trump
The appeals court rejected Trump’s legal team’s arguments that trial Judge Lewis A. Kaplan had mishandled the proceedings, including permitting two other women to testify about similar allegations of sexual abuse by Trump. The court also allowed the jury to view the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape from 2005, where Trump was heard making crude comments about groping women. The appeals panel concluded that Trump had not proven that any of these decisions had negatively impacted his case or warranted a new trial.
Both Carroll and Trump attended the oral arguments before the 2nd Circuit in September 2024, with their respective legal teams presenting their cases. Trump’s spokesperson, Steven Cheung, claimed that the case was part of a political “witch hunt” and emphasized that voters had given Trump a mandate, suggesting the need for an end to what he termed the “weaponization” of the justice system. He expressed confidence that the case would be appealed further.
On the other hand, Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney, expressed gratitude for the court’s decision, calling it a thorough and careful consideration of the arguments presented. The initial jury in May 2023 had found Trump guilty of both sexual abuse and defamation, awarding Carroll $5 million in damages. The additional damages awarded in the second trial came as a result of defamatory remarks Trump made while in office, further solidifying Carroll’s claims against him. Trump’s brief testimony in the second trial was limited, and the jury was instructed to accept the previous jury’s findings regarding the sexual abuse.
