A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld a district court ruling upheld by the nation’s highest court in a sexual assault case against President Trump.
The federal appeals court judges handed down their verdict on Monday local time. They also ordered E. Jean Carroll to pay $5 million in damages.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued its own opinion. “Based on our review of the abuse of process, we conclude that President Trump has failed to prove that the district court committed any error,” the committee said.
A New York jury found last year that President Trump sexually harassed Carroll in a dressing room at a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s and defamed her by denying the allegations.
In a separate case, a jury ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million in damages to Carroll for defamation. Trump appealed the ruling.
Monday’s decision is a major blow to his defense because it is based on a past sexual assault conviction.
Genie Carroll’s lawyer, Robbie Kaplan, said in a statement that he was “pleased with today’s ruling.” “We are grateful that the Second Circuit carefully considered the parties’ arguments.”
President Trump said he would appeal the jury’s verdict. He can now ask the appeals court to reconsider Monday’s ruling or take the matter to the Supreme Court.
The American people overwhelmingly re-elected President Trump and demand an end to the politicization of our justice system. All investigations into the Carroll fraud, including the Democratic-funded investigation into Carroll, should be ended immediately,” Trump said in a statement.
Trump had argued that the jury had heard false testimony and should not have asked Carroll specific questions. The committee rejected those claims. The court found that the testimony of two women and the Access Hollywood audiotapes in which the women said Trump had groped them without their consent were sufficient evidence.
One woman, Jessica Leeds, said Trump kissed her and groped her on an airplane in 1978 or 1979. Another woman, Natasha Steinoff, said Trump pinned her against a wall and kissed her during a magazine interview.
The jury found that the testimony and the audiotapes allowed the jury to reasonably infer that Trump had engaged in similar behavior with other women. The behavior was abrupt, non-consensual and physically aggressive. The Jean Carroll lawsuit has been at the center of many of Trump’s legal battles and is one of his most high-profile civil suits.
President Trump has repeatedly denied Carroll’s claims and attacked her appearance. But the cases remain a major challenge to Trump’s legal battles.
