Trump loses bid to overturn $83.3 million judgment in E. Jean Carroll defamation case
Source: CNBC
Published Mon, Sep 8 2025 10:16 AM EDT Updated 23 Min Ago
A federal appeals court on Monday rejected President Donald Trumps bid to overturn a jury verdict ordering him to pay $83.3 million for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll.
The decision from a trio of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld that verdict, which Trump argued was both excessive and invalid following a Supreme Court decision that expanded his presidential immunity.
The panel held that Trump has failed to identify any grounds that would warrant reconsidering our prior holding on presidential immunity. The judges also ruled that a lower federal court did not err in any of the challenged rulings and that the jurys damages awards are fair and reasonable.
The decision came less than a week after Trumps lawyers signaled they will soon ask the Supreme Court to overturn a jury verdict in a separate civil case Carroll had filed against the president, for which she has been awarded $5 million. Both lawsuits accused Trump of defaming Carroll in statements denying her accusation that he raped her in the mid-1990s in the Manhattan department store Bergdorf Goodman.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/08/trump-carroll-defamation-appeal.html
Link to RULING (PDF) - https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca2.e508a4b2-feae-4592-a6dc-d30f9ed35bb6/gov.uscourts.ca2.e508a4b2-feae-4592-a6dc-d30f9ed35bb6.134.1_1.pdf
Article updated.
Previous articles -
A federal appeals court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump's bid to overturn a jury verdict ordering him to pay $83.3 million for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll.
The decision from a trio of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld that verdict, which Trump argued was both excessive and invalid following a Supreme Court decision that expanded his presidential immunity. But the appellate judges held that Trump "has failed to identify any grounds that would warrant reconsidering our prior holding on presidential immunity."
They also ruled that a lower federal court "did not err in any of the challenged rulings and that the jury's damages awards are fair and reasonable."
The decision came less than a week after Trump's lawyers signaled they will soon ask the Supreme Court to overturn a jury verdict in a separate civil case Carroll had filed against the president, for which she has been awarded $5 million. Both cases accused Trump of defaming Carroll in statements denying her accusation that he raped her in the mid-1990s in the Manhattan department store Bergdorf Goodman.
A federal appeals court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump's bid to overturn a jury verdict ordering him to pay $83.3 million for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll.
The decision from a trio of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld that verdict, which Trump argued was both excessive and invalid following a Supreme Court decision that expanded his presidential immunity.
But the appellate judges held that Trump "has failed to identify any grounds that would warrant reconsidering our prior holding on presidential immunity."
They also ruled that a lower federal court "did not err in any of the challenged rulings and that the jury's damages awards are fair and reasonable."
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C_U_L8R
(48,049 posts)Mike Nelson
(10,742 posts)... that should be his "title" and every Democrat should start calling him "Sex Offender Donald Trump."
LakeVermilion
(1,409 posts)When you're famous they let you do what you want...NOT!
Nest, freeze his assets until he does pay up.
rubbersole
(10,524 posts)ProudMNDemocrat
(20,233 posts)Of course, TACO Don is SO RICH, that he has to fight having to pay out a measly $83 million to someone who was sexually assaulted and defamed in the process.
maxsolomon
(37,351 posts)All the lawyers are paid by the suckers and evil billionaires who donate to the PACs.
orangecrush
(26,693 posts)Have deep pockets.
And Rump has gutted all the agencies who look for money laundering.
LetMyPeopleVote
(169,747 posts)sheshe2
(93,711 posts)Three strikes you are out! Now PAY.
twodogsbarking
(15,729 posts)republianmushroom
(21,364 posts)Cheap bastard, is the convicted felon.
Wednesdays
(20,710 posts)Who will undoubtedly "fix" it for him.
CrispyQ
(40,220 posts)they rule on something based on law & the SCOTUS overturns it with lame arguments. I know it's a long shot that they give a shit, though.
Wednesdays
(20,710 posts)Joinfortmill
(18,912 posts)Response to Wednesdays (Reply #10)
Joinfortmill This message was self-deleted by its author.
live love laugh
(15,881 posts)ProudMNDemocrat
(20,233 posts)Plus, TACO Don is not covered by "Presidential immunity."
live love laugh
(15,881 posts)ProudMNDemocrat
(20,233 posts)We can only pray it happens sooner than later.
RussBLib
(10,118 posts)...all this orange ass does is appeal appeal appeal, and he's not that appealing at all.
https://russblib.blogspot.com
BumRushDaShow
(160,069 posts)he had to put it all "in escrow" in order to do the appeal.
CrispyQ
(40,220 posts)maxsolomon
(37,351 posts)Next the full 2nd circuit. If they don't comply, then the Supremes. They're sure to give him relief.
calimary
(87,820 posts)But I have no confidence that this trump-stocked Supreme Court will actually cave to him yet AGAIN.
DAMMIT!!!
Beacool
(30,451 posts)
Bayard
(26,974 posts)It certainly wouldn't apply to the rape, and the defamation has nothing to do with the Oval Office.
jmowreader
(52,662 posts)He wasnt president when he raped her, and he wasnt president when the judgment was handed down.
Bayard
(26,974 posts)I don't see how he can claim presidential immunity.
Response to jmowreader (Reply #19)
Bayard This message was self-deleted by its author.
Denvermosaic
(150 posts)Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(128,601 posts)
LetMyPeopleVote
(169,747 posts)Trump recently signaled hell ask the Supreme Court to review his previous appeals court loss in the other Carroll case, where she won $5 million.
Will the right-wing Supreme Court majority rule that rape is fine if the rapist is a president and the president rapist should be allowed to defame his victims? Only time will tell.
— @jimrissmiller.bsky.social 2025-09-08T18:18:54.534Z
Supreme Court is last stand in E. Jean Carroll's legal vindication against Trump www.msnbc.com/deadline-whi...
https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/e-jean-carroll-defamation-trump-loses-83-million-rcna229822
In Mondays ruling, the New York-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit concluded that the five-figure damages were reasonable in light of the extraordinary and egregious facts of this case. The three-judge panel also rejected Trumps arguments that the Supreme Courts immunity ruling saves him and that the district judge who presided over the case made erroneous legal rulings.....
Mondays decision involves the second of the two cases that went to trial, where a jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million for statements Trump made when he was still in office. The panel rejected his argument that the damages were excessive, reasoning that there was ample evidence that Trump was recklessly indifferent to Carrolls health and safety. The panel noted that his statements had a domino effect, as Carroll was subjected to ongoing and prolific harassment as a result of these statements, including a multitude of death threats and other threats of physical injury.
Trumps conduct supports a significant punitive damages award it involved malice and deceit, caused severe emotional injury, and continued over at least a five-year period, the panel concluded.
The three judges on Mondays panel were appointed by former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama. In the $5 million case thats further along on appeal, Trump had asked the full 2nd Circuit to review the case before taking it to the Supreme Court. The full appeals court declined to do so, but two Trump appointees dissented while suggesting that Trump was treated unfairly. In his forthcoming petition to the justices in that case, his lawyers might seek to highlight that dissent to a likeminded Supreme Court majority. Thats all to say that in both Carroll cases, the appeals courts rejections of Trumps arguments might not be the final word.
mountain grammy
(28,199 posts)E. Jeans taking all us Democrats out to dinner.
3Hotdogs
(14,552 posts)jfz9580m
(15,956 posts)I have liked her ever since I read this:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/27/us/politics/jean-carroll-trump-sexual-assault.html
My mom would have liked her. My mom always preserved the appearance of what she was - a staid, respectable older bureaucrat. But in private (ie just with me and dad) she had a ribald sense of humor. Like all working women those days (she would be about E Jeannes age) she dealt with sexual harassment and other drivel. Though as is often the case, that was a small part of her overall experience much as it has been a small part of my overall experience. But it shouldnt happen at all.
If by now I wasnt on principle opposed to the cottage industry of ghost-written personal biographies, Id buy her book.
I have no idea if E Jeanne considers herself a feminist (a term I only embraced after it fell out of favor with the superficial crowd), but she is one in my book since she hit Trump where it hurts.
(The only explicitly feminist book I own is the SCUM Manifesto (which I read as a parody) ;-/. Solanas was the Tyler Durden of feminists. So even today there is a teeny radical streak in any feminist since Solanas cannot be described as mainstream ;-/. E Jeanne is at least relatively mainstream.
A damn shame Solanas shot Warhol. If there are any lists I wasnt on, buying the SCUM manifesto probably got me on those. Its tongue in cheek! And no a man cannot get away with writing stuff like that. Thats the point. It wouldnt be subversive if a man did hit the average misogynistic worldview distilled. The satire challenged..
Besides who knows..having put the Marbury Lens on I wonder by now how many radicals are basically inadvertent tools of the military industrial complex from Abbie Hoffman and Emma Goldman to Solanas.
Unfortunately some counter culture was spook stuff I suspect-Dadaism, discordianism, a lot of the entertainment industry is at least an inadvertent part of the military industrial complex imo.
One person I am sure isnt anyones dupe is Yasha Levine. The new left (as I think of them) is a source of comfort to me. I cant think of a person who has contributed more to my mental health than Levine. I hate being a dupe. Otoh most people dont understand stuff like that well.
).