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Appeals court upholds $83 million judgment against Trump in E. Jean Carroll case

By
Graham Kates
Reporter
Graham Kates is an investigative reporter covering criminal justice, privacy issues and information security for CBS News Digital. Contact Graham at KatesG@cbsnews.com or grahamkates@protonmail.com
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Graham Kates

/ CBS News

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 .

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.

Roberta Kaplan, an attorney for Carroll, lauded the decision, saying the appeals panel concluded that "Carroll was telling the truth, and that President Donald Trump was not." Kaplan noted that the court found Mr. Trump was "recklessly indifferent" to Carroll's "health and safety" when making defamatory statements about her.

"We look forward to an end to the appellate process so that justice will finally be done," Kaplan said.

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.

A spokesman for Mr. Trump's legal team decried "the political weaponization of our justice system," calling the case a "Democrat-funded travesty." 

"President Trump will keep winning against Liberal Lawfare, as he is focusing on his mission to Make America Great Again," the spokesman said.

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.

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