A federal appeals court has confirmed that writer E. Jean Carroll will keep the multimillion-dollar award she won in her defamation case against former President Donald Trump. The court ruled that Trump had no valid grounds to challenge the earlier decision or demand a new trial.
In May 2023, a New York jury found Trump guilty of sexually abusing Carroll in the 1990s and defaming her years later when he denied the allegations while serving as president. Carroll had accused Trump of assaulting her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman, a department store in Manhattan. The jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages, a decision Trump appealed, claiming mistakes were made during the trial.
One of Trump’s main arguments was that the judge, Lewis A. Kaplan, should not have allowed the jury to hear testimony from two women, Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff, who also accused Trump of sexual misconduct. Leeds alleged that Trump groped her on an airplane in the 1970s, and Stoynoff claimed Trump assaulted her in 2005 during an interview at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Trump also objected to the jury hearing the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape, where he boasted about grabbing women without their consent.
The appeals court judges, all appointed by Democratic presidents, didn’t find Trump’s arguments convincing. They concluded that the testimony from Leeds and Stoynoff, along with the Access Hollywood tape, was rightfully presented to the jury. According to the judges, these pieces of evidence showed a troubling pattern in Trump’s behavior, supporting Carroll’s allegations.
The judges noted that the Access Hollywood tape wasn’t treated as a confession but as evidence of Trump’s repeated misconduct. They pointed out that in all three instances—Carroll, Leeds, and Stoynoff—Trump abruptly and aggressively made physical advances toward women he barely knew, often in semi-public places. This pattern of behavior, they said, was consistent with Carroll’s claims.
Trump also argued that jurors should have been told about how Carroll’s legal fees were partly covered by a nonprofit organization. He claimed this financial backing hurt Carroll’s credibility. But the judges dismissed this argument, explaining there was no evidence Carroll was directly involved in securing the funding, nor did it impact the facts of the case.
Another point Trump raised was Carroll’s decision not to report the alleged assault to the police at the time. However, the judges highlighted that Carroll was questioned extensively during the trial about this decision, and the jury had all the information it needed to consider the issue.
This decision by the appeals court is a major legal setback for Trump. It follows an earlier case where Carroll won $83 million in damages for another defamation claim against him.
Carroll’s lawyer, Robbie Kaplan, expressed satisfaction with the ruling, thanking the court for its careful review of the case.
For now, the appeals court’s decision ensures that Carroll’s victory remains intact, marking another chapter in her long legal battle against the former president.
