A United States (U.S.) Federal Court has upheld the 5 million dollar verdict awarded to Jean Carroll in her lawsuit against Donald Trump after a jury found the former U.S. president liable for sexual assault and subsequent defamation of the former “Elle” magazine columnist.
The decision was made by a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan.
The May 2023 verdict stemmed from an incident that occurred in 1996 at the “Bergdorf Goodman“ department store in Manhattan. Carroll claimed that Trump raped her, a claim he denied in October 2022 on the “Truth Social“ platform, calling it a hoax.
The jurors did not find Trump liable for rape but awarded Carroll 2.02 million dollars in damages for sexual assault and 2.98 million dollars for defamation.
In a separate case, another jury in January ordered Trump to pay Carroll 83.3 million dollars for defamation and harm to her reputation due to a statement he made in June 2019 when he first denied her rape claim.
Trump has consistently maintained that he does not know Carroll, stating she “is not his type” and alleging that she fabricated the rape claim to promote her memoir. He has appealed the 83.3 million dollar verdict.
Both legal proceedings continue despite Trump winning a second four-year term in the White House in the November 5th election.
