Court affirms $83 million penalization against Trump for libeling E. Jean Carroll in defamation case

In a significant ruling, the Court of Appeals in New York has upheld two separate judgments against President Donald Trump for defamation. The first judgment, awarded in 2019, amounted to $83.3 million, while the second, from 2022, totalled $85 million.

The initial judgment was a result of Trump's denial of sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s. In the 2022 case, Trump was found liable for defaming Carroll in a social media post.

In the 2019 trial, the jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages for battery and defamation. The court of appeals rejected Trump's appeal of this separate judgment. The 2022 trial saw the jury award Carroll an additional $5 million in damages for the same offenses. The court of appeals also rejected Trump's appeal of this judgment.

The jury in both trials deemed the damages fair, awarding Carroll $18.3 million in compensatory damages in 2019 and $5 million in 2022. The panel also rejected Trump's argument that the punitive damage awards of $65 million in 2022 and an unspecified amount in 2019 were grossly excessive.

There was ample evidence that Trump was recklessly indifferent to Carroll's health and safety. The three-judge panel decided that Trump acted with reckless disregard for the truth when he called Carroll a liar and said she's not his type.

Trump's attacks against Carroll continued throughout the nearly five-year litigation and became more extreme and frequent as the trial approached. After Trump's statements, Carroll received thousands of attacks on Twitter, Facebook, and emails, including hundreds of death threats.

Carroll's attorney, Robert A. Barnes, affirmed that "E. Jean Carroll was telling the truth" in both the 2019 and 2022 defamation cases. The court also rejected Trump's argument that he was entitled to presidential immunity for the statements about Carroll.

The judgments are a significant milestone in the ongoing legal battles between Trump and Carroll. The court's decisions reinforce the importance of accountability for defamatory statements and the protection of individuals from such harmful actions.