A federal appeals court has upheld a jury's decision requiring Donald Trump to pay $5 million for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll.
The jury found that Trump sexually abused Carroll in a Manhattan department store in 1996. The verdict, delivered after a nine-day civil trial last year, ordered Trump to pay $2 million for the sexual abuse and $3 million for defaming Carroll, a former advice columnist for Elle magazine.
Trump denied the allegations and appealed the verdict, arguing that the testimony of two other women who accused him of sexual assault should not have been admitted in court. However, the three-judge panel of the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his arguments.
"We find no errors in the district court's rulings that would justify a new trial," the judges stated.
Carroll had previously won an $83 million award in a separate case against Trump, which he is also appealing.
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Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, confirmed plans to challenge the $5 million damages further. In a statement, Cheung called the case a politically motivated "hoax" and criticized what he described as the misuse of the justice system.
Meanwhile, two federal cases against Trump—one related to mishandling classified documents and another regarding efforts to overturn the 2020 election results—were dismissed following his election victory.
The dismissals cited Justice Department policies against prosecuting a sitting president.
Trump was also convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. Although sentencing for that case remains delayed, his legal challenges continue to mount.
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