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The Hill
11-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Judges rule against Trump appeal in E. Jean Carroll case
A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled to uphold a jury verdict that determined President Trump was guilty of sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll. The three-judge panel issued a mandate to affirm the previous district court ruling despite the president's attempts to appeal the ruling that sided with Carroll, who claimed that he sexually abused her at a New York City department store in the mid-1990s. 'Thursday, July 10th, 2025 So long, Old Man! The United States Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit, bids thee farewell,' Carroll wrote in a post celebrating the ruling on X. However, Trump may attempt to submit another appeal to be considered for review before the Supreme Court. He has 90 days to submit a request to the high court. A White House spokesperson described Carroll's case as 'liberal lawfare' in a statement sent to CNBC. 'The American People are supporting President Trump in historic numbers, and they demand an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoaxes, the defense of which the Attorney General has determined is legally required to be taken over by the Department of Justice because Carroll based her false claims on the President's official acts, including statements from the White House,' the spokesperson told the outlet. The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.
The Hill
18-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Appeals court won't let Justice Department step in for Trump in E. Jean Carroll's $83M verdict
A federal appeals court panel on Wednesday refused the Justice Department's effort to put itself on the hook for an $83.3 million defamation award advice columnist E. Jean Carroll won at trial from President Trump. It's the latest setback for the president in his efforts to fight Carroll's lawsuits at the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Last week, the 2nd Circuit upheld her earlier $5 million jury award. On Wednesday, the three-judge panel denied the Justice Department's request to replace Trump as the defendant in Carroll's defamation lawsuit under the Westfall Act, a 1988 law that protects federal employees from certain lawsuits concerning things they did in the course of their jobs. The Justice Department contended Trump's denials of Carroll's sexual assault claims in a written statement and comments he made on the White House South Lawn in 2019 — the basis of her suit — were made within the scope of Trump's employment as president. 'The Court will issue an opinion detailing its reasoning in due course,' reads the 2nd Circuit's one-page order rejecting the effort without further explanation. The three-judge panel comprised Judge Denny Chin, an appointee of former President Obama; Judge Sarah Merriam, an appointee of former President Biden; and Judge Maria Araújo Kahn, another Biden appointee. 'The American People are supporting President Trump in historic numbers, and they demand an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoaxes, the defense of which is legally required to be taken over by the Department of Justice as that charade is fully based on the President's official acts,' a spokesperson for Trump's legal team said in a statement. The Hill has reached out to the Justice Department as well as Carroll's legal team for comment. Wednesday's ruling is the latest setback for the president at the 2nd Circuit, where he has appealed both jury awards Carroll won after coming forward during Trump's presidency with claims he sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. Trump continues to deny her story. In the first trial, a jury found Trump liable for sexually assaulting Carroll and defaming her by denying her claims. Trump was ordered to pay $5 million. The full 2nd Circuit bench rejected Trump's appeal on Friday. The president's legal team has vowed to take the case to the Supreme Court next. Wednesday's decision concerned the second trial, in which Carroll last year won an $83.3 million judgment from a separate jury over additional denials Trump made of the columnist's claims, which were also ruled defamatory. Since Trump retook the presidency, his Justice Department has sought to leverage the Westfall Act to step in for the president, which would mean he wouldn't have to pay the damages and instead leave the government on the hook. It's a return to the Justice Department's position during Trump's first term, when it tried to step in near the onset of Carroll's lawsuit. The gambit tied up the case in pretrial proceedings for years, only for the Biden-era Justice Department to drop the effort in 2023. The 2nd Circuit's ruling comes ahead of oral arguments scheduled for Tuesday, when the three-judge panel will hear Trump's appeal of the jury verdict itself.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NY appeals court rejects bid to overturn Trump's convictions in E. Jean Carroll case
President Donald Trump has lost his latest bid to challenge a civil jury verdict holding him liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in the 90s and then defaming her decades later when she went public with the allegations. On Friday the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York declined Trump's request for a court's full bench to rehear his case. The decision leaves in place a December 2024 ruling by a three-judge panel upholding the 2023 jury verdict, which ordered Trump to pay Carroll $5 million in damages. Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, welcomed the decision. 'E. Jean Carroll is very pleased with today's ruling,' she said. 'Although President Trump continues to try every possible maneuver to challenge the findings of two separate juries, those efforts have failed. He remains liable for sexual assault and defamation.' The case is one of two civil suits Carroll, now 81, has filed against Trump, both stemming from his public denials of her 2019 accusation that he sexually assaulted her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan in 1996. In October 2022, Trump defamed Carroll on Truth Social by denying her claim as a hoax. Carroll's first lawsuit, related to Trump's 2019 statements, ended in January 2024 with an $83.3 million defamation verdict in her favor. Trump is also appealing that outcome. Oral arguments in that appeal are scheduled for June 24. The lawsuit at the center of Friday's ruling was filed in 2022 after New York temporarily lifted its statute of limitations for certain sexual assault claims. It included both defamation and battery claims related to Carroll's original allegations and Trump's more recent comments. Two judges—Steven Menashi and Michael Park, both appointed by Trump—dissented from Friday's decision, arguing the court should have reconsidered the case. Menashi accused the panel of deviating from precedent and criticized the trial judge for excluding key evidence and admitting 'stale witness testimony' from another woman who accused Trump of assault during an unrelated encounter. The majority of the appellate court rejected that view. Four judges countered the dissent, writing that the appeal did not meet the high bar required for review, which is typically reserved for cases involving significant legal questions or conflicts in appellate precedent. Judges Denny Chin and Susan Carney, who previously ruled against Trump in the December decision, issued a statement supporting the majority and directly refuting Menashi's arguments. 'Even on his own terms, our dissenting colleague fails to explain why any purported error warrants a retrial or full court review,' they wrote. Trump's final chance to overturn the verdict lies with the Supreme Court. His team has indicated that he will ask the highest court to hear his appeal, but the court is not obligated to do so. According to NBC News, in a statement Friday, a spokesperson for Trump described the lawsuit as a 'Democrat-funded Carroll Hoax' and said the former president 'will keep winning against Liberal Lawfare, as he is focusing on his mission to Make America Great Again.'
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Court rules against Donald Trump in effort to retry E. Jean Carroll sex abuse case
June 13 (UPI) -- The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Friday rejected President Donald Trump's attempt to get a retrial of the civil sexual abuse and defamation liability verdict against him in the E. Jean Carroll case. The appeals court had already rejected an appeal of the verdict in December. The court voted 8-2 Friday to refuse Trump's effort to overturn the verdict and retry the case. Lawyers for Carroll said in a statement, "E. Jean Carroll is very pleased with today's decision. Although President Trump continues to try every possible maneuver to challenge the findings of two separate juries, those efforts have failed. He remains liable for sexual assault and defamation." Trump's lawyers then sought a retrial, petitioning to have the full appeals rule on it in what's known en banc. The court's Friday ruling written by Judge Myrna Perez said of Trump's effort, "Simply re-litigating a case is not an appropriate use of the en banc procedure." She added, "In those rare instances in which a case warrants our collective consideration, it is almost always because it involves a question of exceptional importance or a conflict between the panel's opinion and appellate precedent." Perez said of Trump's earlier rejected appeal of the verdict, "Defendant-Appellant appealed a civil judgment against him for sexual assault and defamation, challenging several of the district court's evidentiary rulings. For the reasons discussed at length in its unanimous opinion, the panel, on which I sat, found no reversible abuse of discretion." Trump denies sexually assaulting Carroll and defaming her. A statement from a spokesperson for Trump's legal team said, "The American People are supporting President Trump in historic numbers, and they demand an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoax, which will continue to be appealed." Trump-appointed Circuit Judges Steven J. Menashi and Michael Park dissented. "I would rehear the case en banc to "maintain uniformity of the court's decisions" and to resolve these important questions in line with longstanding principles," Menashi wrote. Writer Carroll won a $83.3 million defamation judgement against Trump, as well as a civil verdict, that he sexually abused her. The jury in that case found Trump liable for battery and defamation in Carroll's sexual abuse lawsuit. She alleged in that suit that Trump sexually abused her in a New York City department store. The jury found that Trump, beyond a preponderance of evidence, sexually abused Carroll.
UPI
13-06-2025
- Politics
- UPI
Court rules against Donald Trump in effort to retry E. Jean Carroll sex abuse case
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Friday rejected President Donald Trump's attempt to get a retrial of the civil sexual abuse and defamation liability verdict against him in the case of E. Jean Carroll (pictured arriving on the red carpet at Lincoln Center in New York City in 2024). File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo June 13 (UPI) -- The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Friday rejected President Donald Trump's attempt to get a retrial of the civil sexual abuse and defamation liability verdict against him in the E. Jean Carroll case. The appeals court had already rejected an appeal of the verdict in December. The court voted 8-2 Friday to refuse Trump's effort to overturn the verdict and retry the case. Lawyers for Carroll said in a statement, "E. Jean Carroll is very pleased with today's decision. Although President Trump continues to try every possible maneuver to challenge the findings of two separate juries, those efforts have failed. He remains liable for sexual assault and defamation." Trump's lawyers then sought a retrial, petitioning to have the full appeals rule on it in what's known en banc. The court's Friday ruling written by Judge Myrna Perez said of Trump's effort, "Simply re-litigating a case is not an appropriate use of the en banc procedure." She added, "In those rare instances in which a case warrants our collective consideration, it is almost always because it involves a question of exceptional importance or a conflict between the panel's opinion and appellate precedent." Perez said of Trump's earlier rejected appeal of the verdict, "Defendant-Appellant appealed a civil judgment against him for sexual assault and defamation, challenging several of the district court's evidentiary rulings. For the reasons discussed at length in its unanimous opinion, the panel, on which I sat, found no reversible abuse of discretion." Trump denies sexually assaulting Carroll and defaming her. A statement from a spokesperson for Trump's legal team said, "The American People are supporting President Trump in historic numbers, and they demand an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoax, which will continue to be appealed." Trump-appointed Circuit Judges Steven J. Menashi and Michael Park dissented. "I would rehear the case en banc to "maintain uniformity of the court's decisions" and to resolve these important questions in line with longstanding principles," Menashi wrote. Writer Carroll won a $83.3 million defamation judgement against Trump, as well as a civil verdict, that he sexually abused her. The jury in that case found Trump liable for battery and defamation in Carroll's sexual abuse lawsuit. She alleged in that suit that Trump sexually abused her in a New York City department store. The jury found that Trump, beyond a preponderance of evidence, sexually abused Carroll.
