A federal appeals court on Friday rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn a lower court ruling in his $5 million sexual abuse lawsuit involving former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll.
The decision came from a divided panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, with all 11 judges participating en banc. The ruling upheld a December 30 decision by a three-judge panel to enforce the jury’s award.
E. Jean Carroll, now 81, accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in Manhattan around 1996. She later claimed he defamed her with a 2022 post on Truth Social, calling her accusation a hoax.
In May 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexual assault and defamation. However, the jury did not find that Trump had raped Carroll, as she had initially alleged.
Trump sought reconsideration, arguing the trial judge erred by allowing jurors to see a 2005 Access Hollywood video where Trump boasted about his sexual conduct. He also criticized the admission of evidence involving allegations from two other women.
Two Trump-appointed judges, Steven Menashi and Michael Park, dissented from the en banc ruling. They argued the Access Hollywood tape was improper “propensity” evidence and should