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The President of the United States, Donald Trump, faced another judicial setback this Monday when a federal appeals court upheld the civil judgment requiring him to pay $83.3 million to writer E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of sexual assault and who has been the target of repeated attacks on social media and in public statements.
According to the agency Associated Press (AP), the Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the president's appeal and deemed the jury's decision that established the million-dollar compensation as “fair and reasonable.”
The panel of three judges noted that the degree of "blameworthiness" in Trump's conduct was "extraordinary, perhaps unprecedented," considering the smear campaigns he waged against Carroll for years.
The current president had argued that the damages were "excessive," particularly the 65 million dollars in punitive damages, and that a new trial should be opened following the Supreme Court's ruling that expanded presidential immunity.
However, the judges dismissed those allegations and emphasized that Trump's attacks against Carroll became “more extreme and frequent” as the judicial process unfolded.
Carroll, 81 years old, reported in her memoirs that Trump sexually assaulted her in 1996 at a department store in New York.
In a first trial held in 2023, a jury found that Trump was responsible for sexual abuse and ordered him to pay 5 million dollars in compensation.
Subsequently, a second trial focused exclusively on the damages for defamation stemming from the president's comments in 2019, when he accused her of being a "politically and financially motivated liar" and even suggested that "she was not his type."
The court also recalled that Carroll received hundreds of death threats following the president's statements and that she lost her decades-long job as a columnist at Elle magazine.
Her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, celebrated the appellate ruling, noting that the court acknowledged that "Carroll was telling the truth, and Donald Trump was not."
Trump's defense, for its part, insisted that the case is part of a "politicization of the judicial system" and announced that they will appeal to the Supreme Court.
In parallel, the president continues to face multiple legal cases while serving his second term in the White House.
Frequently Asked Questions about Donald Trump’s Defamation Conviction Against E. Jean Carroll
Why does Donald Trump have to pay $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll?
Trump was ordered to pay $83.3 million for defaming E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of sexual assault. The court affirmed that his attacks on Carroll were "extraordinary" in terms of reprehensibility.
What arguments did Trump use in his defense to avoid conviction?
Trump argued that the damages were "excessive," especially the $65 million in punitive damages, and requested a new trial. The court dismissed his claims, stating that the attacks became more extreme during the legal process.
What was the impact of Trump's statements about E. Jean Carroll?
Carroll received hundreds of death threats and lost her job as a columnist following Trump's statements, in which he accused her of being a "politically and financially motivated liar."
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