Trump loses appeal against E Jean Carroll sexual abuse and defamation verdict

A federal appeals court in Manhattan has upheld a $5 million (close to £4 million) verdict against president-elect Donald Trump for sexually abusing and defaming writer E Jean Carroll.

The three-judge panel of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals announced its decision on Monday (30 December).

The judges rejected Trump’s arguments for a new trial and ruled that evidence, including testimony from other accusers, and the infamous Access Hollywood tape where he boasted about “grabbing [women] by the p***y”, were properly admitted in the original case.

In May 2023, a jury in the civil case found the former president had sexually abused former Elle columnist Carroll in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the mid-90s, but they did not find him liable of raping her.

The jury also found Trump had defamed Carroll by claiming her accusations were “a hoax and a lie”. He was ordered to pay damages of $2.02m (£1.6 million) for sexual assault and $2.98m (£2.4 million) for defamation.

Trump has consistently denied all the allegations but the appeals court judges ruled that testimony from two other women who also accused him of sexual misconduct – businesswoman Jessica Leeds and former People magazine writer Natasha Stoynoff – as well as the Hollywood Access tape established “a repeated, idiosyncratic pattern of conduct consistent with what Ms Carroll alleged”.

In a statement given to The Guardian, Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said: “Both E Jean and I are gratified by today’s decision. We thank the second circuit for its careful consideration of the parties’ arguments.”

The appeal decision follows a separate verdict in which Trump was found liable for defamatory comments he made about Carroll in 2019, with a jury awarding her $83.3 million (£66.4 million).

Trump is also appealing against that verdict.

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