On Monday, a federal appeals court affirmed a jury conviction that ordered US President-elect Donald Trump to pay $5 million for sexually harassing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll. This decision was a significant blow for Trump.
A jury in New York concluded last year during a nine-day civil trial that the president-elect had sexually assaulted Carroll in 1996 at a department shop in Manhattan.
Trump was forced to pay $2 million for sexual abuse and an additional $3 million for defaming Carroll, a former Elle magazine advice columnist, according to news agency AFP.
However, Trump denied the claims and challenged the decision, arguing that two additional women who said Trump had sexually assaulted them also shouldn’t have been let to testify.
Trump will file an additional appeal against the $5 million damages granted in the sexual assault and defamation case, according to Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung.
Cheung said in a statement.
“The American People have re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate,”
“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,”.
The three-judge panel of the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals opposed.
“We conclude that Mr. Trump has not demonstrated that the district court erred in any of the challenged rulings,”.
The panel stated,
“Trump 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.”
In another case she filed against Trump, a different jury gave Carroll $83 million.
Following Trump’s victory in the November 5 presidential election, special counsel Jack Smith’s two federal lawsuits against him have been dropped.
Under the Justice Department’s principle of not prosecuting a sitting president, Smith withdrew the cases against Trump, who was accused of mishandling secret materials after leaving the White House and trying to alter the 2020 election results.
In May, Trump was found guilty on 34 charges in New York of fabricating financial records to conceal a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
