A federal appeals court upheld a $5 million verdict on Monday (December 30) in favour of E. Jean Carroll, a former magazine columnist, in her case against US President-elect Donald Trump. 

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A jury had previously found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll, and the appeals court rejected Trump’s request for a new trial just weeks before he is set to retake office.

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The Second Circuit Court of Appeals said that Trump’s legal team failed to show any errors in the district court's rulings or present sufficient grounds to justify a new trial.

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“We conclude that Mr. Trump has not demonstrated 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 his substantial rights as required to warrant a new trial,” the court said in its ruling.

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Trump’s lawyers argued that the district court had allowed "inflammatory" evidence, including the 2005 Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump was heard saying that “when you’re a star,” “you can do anything,” such as grabbing women “by the pussy.” They also objected to testimony from two other women—Jessica Leeds, who claimed Trump groped her on a plane in the 1970s, and Natasha Stoynoff, who alleged Trump forcibly kissed her at Mar-a-Lago in 2005.

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Trump vs. E. Jean Carroll case

In 2023, a jury awarded Carroll $2.02 million for sexual assault and $2.98 million for defamation after finding Trump liable for sexually abusing her in the 1990s and then defaming her when she went public with her accusations. However, the jury did not find Trump guilty of rape.

Separately, in January 2024, another jury ordered Trump to pay Carroll $83.3 million for defamation after concluding that his denial of her allegations in 2019 harmed her reputation. Trump had dismissed Carroll's claims, saying he did not know her, she was "not my type," and that she made up the allegations to promote her memoir.

(With inputs from agencies)