The ongoing legal saga involving President Donald Trump and advice columnist E. Jean Carroll has seen a new development. On Wednesday, a federal appeals court decided not to convene a full panel to reconsider the $83 million defamation verdict against Trump. This case stems from accusations that Trump defamed Carroll following her allegation that he sexually abused her in a department store dressing room decades ago.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined the request for an “en banc” hearing, a decision that comes after Trump had already appealed a similar $5 million verdict to the Supreme Court. The jury had found Trump liable for sexual abuse in 1996 and subsequent defamation of Carroll, though the Supreme Court has yet to decide on hearing the case.
Trump’s legal team has yet to respond to inquiries regarding this latest decision. Meanwhile, Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, expressed her client’s eagerness to conclude the case, which initially began in 2019. Kaplan stated, “Eager for this case, originally filed in 2019, to be over so that she can finally obtain justice.”
In September, a three-judge panel from the 2nd Circuit had already dismissed Trump’s appeal against the $83 million verdict. This prompted an appeals judge to suggest a hearing by the full panel of Manhattan-based judges. However, the court revealed that five judges were against a full rehearing, while three were in favor.
Judge Denny Chin pointed out that this marks the fourth rejection by the 2nd Circuit for a full appeals hearing in this case. He noted Carroll’s claims, made public in a 2019 memoir, about the alleged sexual abuse by Trump in the 1990s. Trump denied these allegations, stating he had never met her and remarked, “she’s not my type.” Carroll subsequently sued for defamation.
Although Trump was absent from the May 2023 trial where a jury confirmed the sexual abuse and defamation, he provided brief testimony at a second trial in January 2024, which resulted in the $83 million defamation award.
Chin defended the appeals court’s decision to uphold the defamation award, citing Trump’s persistent disparagement of Carroll over the years. “As a result of Trump’s statements, Carroll was harassed and humiliated, subjected to death threats, and feared for her physical safety for years,” Chin wrote, emphasizing that Trump continued his attacks during and after both trials.
Judges Steven J. Menashi, Michael H. Park, and Debra Ann Livingston, who supported the full 2nd Circuit hearing the appeal, argued in favor of substituting the United States as the defendant for Trump. They posited that Trump was acting within the “scope of his office or employment” as certified by the attorney general.
Menashi’s dissent argued that a new trial should be granted, labeling the defamation award “grossly excessive” and suggesting a “manifest miscarriage of justice” in the proceedings.
