A federal appeals court upheld a jury’s verdict on Monday, affirming that former President Donald Trump sexually abused columnist E. Jean Carroll in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also upheld the $5 million award granted to Carroll for defamation and sexual abuse.
Carroll, who was a longtime magazine columnist, testified in 2023 that Trump turned a friendly encounter into a violent attack in the spring of 1996, when they entered the store’s dressing room together. Trump, who denied the accusations, skipped the trial but briefly testified in a subsequent defamation trial earlier this year. That trial resulted in an $83.3 million award after Trump made defamatory remarks about Carroll in 2019, following her public accusation.
The three-judge panel rejected Trump’s legal team’s arguments that trial Judge Lewis A. Kaplan made errors during the proceedings. Specifically, Trump’s lawyers objected to the inclusion of testimony from two other women who had accused Trump of sexual abuse and the use of the infamous 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape. In the tape, Trump boasted about grabbing women by their genitals, claiming that as a star, “you can do anything.”
The appeals court determined that there were no errors that warranted a new trial, stating, “We conclude that Mr. Trump has not demonstrated that the district court erred in any of the challenged rulings.” It further concluded that Trump had not shown that the alleged errors had affected his substantial rights.
In response to the ruling, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said the former president had received an “overwhelming mandate” from voters and called for an immediate end to what he described as the “political weaponization of our justice system.” Cheung added that the case would continue to be appealed.
Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, expressed gratitude for the court’s decision, saying, “Both E. Jean Carroll and I are gratified by today’s decision. We thank the Second Circuit for its careful consideration of the parties’ arguments.”
The initial jury’s decision in May 2023 found that Trump had sexually abused Carroll and defamed her with comments he made in 2022. In addition to the $5 million award, a second jury in January 2024 awarded Carroll $83.3 million in damages for defamatory comments Trump made while in office. The appeal of the second jury’s verdict has not yet been heard.
During both trials, Carroll testified that Trump’s public remarks had a lasting impact on her, resulting in death threats and a sense of fear. Trump, who did not challenge the first jury’s findings in the second trial, testified for just under three minutes. His lawyers had argued that witness testimonies from people who recalled Carroll’s account of the 1996 incident were biased and improperly included in the trial.
The appeals court also noted that the pattern of behavior described by Carroll and the other women was sufficiently similar, highlighting Trump’s repeated inappropriate behavior in semi-public places. The “Access Hollywood” tape was cited as corroborating evidence of this pattern.
As the case continues, Carroll remains one of the few individuals publicly challenging Trump’s alleged actions, and the legal battles surrounding his accusations are expected to continue.
