A federal appeals court upheld a jury’s $5 million civil verdict against Donald Trump for sexual abuse and defamation claims brought by writer E. Jean Carroll. A three-judge panel ruled unanimously Monday that the trial judge did not violate Trump’s rights when he allowed Carroll to present evidence suggesting Trump had committed other sexual assaults. That evidence included Trump’s comments on the “Access Hollywood” tape as well as testimony from other two other women who accused Trump of sexual assault, Politico reports. “[T]he jury could reasonably infer … that Mr. Trump engaged in similar conduct with other women — a pattern of abrupt, nonconsensual, and physical advances on women he barely knew,” the panel wrote. The judges were Obama appointees Denny Chin and Susan Carney, as well as Biden appointee Myrna Perez.
Trump may appeal to the full 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals or to the Supreme Court. It’s a significant legal setback as Trump prepares for his inauguration next month. It comes after a legal victory for the president-elect in a related civil case against ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos, who said on the air that the civil jury found Trump had raped Carroll. Carroll accused Trump of raping her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s and sued him for civil damages. In May 2023, a federal jury did not find Trump liable for rape but did find him liable for sexual abuse and defamation, and it ordered Trump to pay Carroll $5 million.
A separate jury this year ordered Trump to pay her $83.3 million for a different defamation claim. Trump is appealing that verdict as well. Both defamation claims arise from statements that Trump made about Carroll in which he denied her account of rape and called her a liar.
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