In 2023, the future US President was sentenced to pay millions in compensation for the sexual abuse of US author Caroll. Trump appealed – but a US federal court has now confirmed the verdict.
A US federal court has confirmed a civil verdict against future US President Donald Trump for sexual abuse. This emerges from a published court document.
Last year, a New York jury found it proven that Trump had attacked, sexually abused and later libeled US author E. Jean Carroll in a New York luxury department store in 1996. He was ordered to pay $5 million in restitution. Trump then filed an appeal.
The real estate entrepreneur, who was not yet a politician in the mid-1990s, has always denied the accusation. The allegations are time-barred under criminal law, but Carroll, now 81, had legal recourse under civil law. The jury classified the 2023 incident as sexual abuse; it did not consider Carroll's accusation of rape by Trump to be proven.
Court justifies statements from other women
The federal court in New York has now rejected Trump's appeal, who begins his second term as US President on January 20th. The reason given was that the 78-year-old had not been able to prove that the district court had made a mistake in reaching its verdict. Nor were his rights impaired to such an extent that a new trial would be justified.
The court also judged the use of witness statements from women who also accused Trump of sexual assault in the civil case to be justified – as was the use of an old audio recording in which Trump made lewd and derogatory comments about women and about the fact that women can also be approached you could touch her genitals if you wanted to and you were a star like him. All of this shows a pattern of his behavior.
exit of the second appeal process still open
According to media reports, a spokesman for Trump announced further appeals and spoke of political instrumentalization of the justice system. Trump had already announced in 2023 that he considered the process to be a fraud and a politically motivated “witch hunt”. According to US media, Carroll's lawyer said that she and Caroll were very pleased with the decision.
In January of this year, in a second defamation trial, a jury awarded Carroll an additional $83 million in compensation for comments Trump made about her during his first term as president. Trump had also appealed against this, but the decision is still pending.
