A jury’s conclusion that President Trump should pay writer E. Jean Carroll more than $83 million in damages for defamation was “fair and reasonable,” a federal appeals court panel ruled Monday.
“We hold that the district court did not err in any of the challenged rulings and that the jury’s duly rendered damages awards were reasonable in light of the extraordinary and egregious facts of this case,” three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit wrote in a unanimous opinion.
The decision is the latest defeat for Mr. Trump in a case that dates back to 2019, when Carroll first went public with allegations that he sexually assaulted her in a department store decades earlier.
Lawyers for the president argued that he was shielded in the case by presidential immunity, that the trial court made a series of improper decisions and that the damages awarded to Carroll were excessive. The appeals court rejected their arguments in each instance.
Carroll has twice prevailed over Mr. Trump at trial. In 2023, a federal jury in New York awarded her $5 million while finding Mr. Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation. The same appeals court in June upheld that judgment. That case involved allegations that Mr. Trump forcefully inserted his fingers into Ms. Carroll, which the jury concluded was substantiated by a preponderance of evidence.
In 2024, a separate jury heard evidence related to additional defamatory remarks made by Mr. Trump about Carroll. The appeals court noted in its decision Monday that “he made several disruptive comments and gestures in front of the judge and jury.”
Mr. Trump’s defamatory statements included him both denying Carroll’s allegations and insisting she had made them up.
During the 2024 trial, the jury heard evidence and analysis pointing to significant reputational and personal damage suffered by Carroll in the wake of Mr. Trump’s denials.
Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, implored the jury to award Carroll enough to “make him stop” defaming her client.
Graham Kates is an investigative reporter covering criminal justice, privacy issues and information security for CBS News Digital. Contact Graham at [email protected] or [email protected]
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