(Headline USA) A federal appeals court has upheld a civil jury’s finding that President Donald Trump must pay $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll for his repeated social media attacks against the longtime advice columnist after she accused him of sexual assault—even though a jury ruled that she lied about her rape allegations.
Carroll, whose advice column ran in the women’s magazine Elle from 1993 to 2019, has reportedly accused at least six prior men of raping her, including former CBS President Les Moonves. Her bizarre social-media history also included posts making light of sexual trauma and even asking her followers if they found Trump sexually attractive. Trump was prevented from submitting that evidence in his trial.
Despite her dubious track record, on Monday the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Trump’s appeal of the defamation award, finding that the “jury’s damages awards are fair and reasonable.”
In case you didn’t know, E Jean Carroll has accused many men of raping or sexually assaulting her…
Including a babysitter’s boyfriend, a dentist, a camp counselor, an unnamed college date, an unnamed boss and CBS chief executive Les Moonves – Per The National Pulse
This is why…
— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) January 27, 2024
Trump had argued that he should not have to pay the sum as a result of a Supreme Court decision expanding presidential immunity. His lawyers had asked for a new trial.
A civil jury in Manhattan issued the $88.3 million award last year following a trial that centered on Trump’s repeated social media attacks against Carroll over her claims that he sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan department store in 1996.
That award followed a separate trial, in which Trump was found liable for sexually abusing Carroll and ordered to pay $5 million. That award was upheld by an appeals court last December.
In a memoir, and again at a 2023 trial, Carroll described how a chance encounter with Trump at Bergdorf Goodman’s Fifth Avenue in 1996 started with the two flirting as they shopped, then ended with a violent struggle inside a dressing room.
Carroll said Trump slammed her against a dressing room wall, pulled down her tights and forced himself on her.
A jury found Trump liable for sexual assault, but concluded he hadn’t committed rape, as defined under New York law.
Trump repeatedly denied that the encounter took place and accused Carroll of making it up to help sell her book.
He also said that Carroll was “not my type.”
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
