A federal appeals court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump’s appeal of a $83 million defamation verdict given to writer E. Jean Carroll. They also threw out his argument that he was immune as president.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the decision in a 70-page ruling. The three judges agreed that Trump’s behavior against Carroll was “remarkably high, perhaps unprecedented” in how bad it was.
In the ruling, the court said, “We conclude that Trump has failed to identify any grounds that would warrant reconsidering our prior holding on presidential immunity.”
The decision is based on what Trump said as president about Carroll’s claim that he sexually abused her in the 1990s. Carroll’s lawyer says that a jury in Manhattan gave her $83.3 million in January 2024. With interest, that amount has now grown to $89.7 million.
According to court documents, Trump’s lawyers said that the verdict “severely damages the presidency and is a great miscarriage of justice.” They said that the Supreme Court’s July decision about presidential immunity should have kept Trump safe.
The appeals court disagreed with this position and said that presidential immunity does not protect the president from being sued in the Carroll case.
Multiple news sources quoted Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan as saying, “We look forward to the end of the appellate process so that justice will finally be done.”
Trump “will keep winning against Liberal Lawfare,” Politico reports citing a Trump legal spokesperson as saying.
Trump has lost another judicial battle with this verdict, which comes as he faces a number of civil claims. Politico said that last year, a different appeals panel upheld a $5 million judgment against Trump in a different Carroll case.
This ruling makes it clear that protections for presidents against civil lawsuits do not apply to situations involving their personal behavior. This is a big step forward for future civil lawsuits involving presidents.
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