A federal appeals court upheld on Monday the $5 million judgement favoring writer E. Jean Carroll in the sexual abuse and defamation case against President-elect Donald Trump.
The court argued that Trump's defense did not manage to prove that the "district court erred in any of the challenged rulings." "Further, he has not carried his burden to show that any claimed error or combination of claimed errors affected is substantial rights as required to warrant a new trial."
A jury awarded $5 million to Carroll in 2023 after finding Trump liable to sexually abusing her in the 90s and defaming her after she made the allegations public.
She first alleged in a 2019 magazine article that Trump, who was the President at the time, had raped her in a dressing room at a department store in Manhattan in mid-1990s. Trump denied her claims and accused her of lying. He also said she was motivated by a desire to generate sales of a book in making the allegations.
Carroll is suing the former President in two cases in federal court in Manhattan. They are for allegedly defaming her by his characterization of her claims and her purported motivation. One case was filed in 2019, after he first denied her rape allegations. The second was filed this fall, after he repeated his claims about her motivation behind the allegations. She was also awarded $83.3 million for the other case.
Trump has repeatedly said Carroll is not his "type," suggesting that a sexual assault could not have happened as he would not have pursued her romantically.
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung reacted to the ruling, saying that "the American People have re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate, and they demand an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoax, which will continue to be appealed."
Carroll attorney Roberta Kaplan, on her end, said she and her client are "are gratified by today's decision. We thank the Second Circuit for its careful consideration of the parties' arguments."
However, even if the president-elect does end up having to dole out the full sum, it wouldn't mean a massive setback for his wealth. A recent report from Forbes explained that his fortune rose by a staggering $3.6 billion in 2024, more than doubling in size. The outlet detailed that his net worth went from $2.5 billion to $6.1 billion mainly as a result of his majority stake in the parent company of his social media platform, Truth Social. He achieved the figure after his election victory. It has dropped since but remained consistently above $5.1 billion. It clocked in at $6.51 billion on December 20 when he transferred his stake to a trust.
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