(NewsSpace.com) – Former President Donald Trump’s legal woes continue. He was found guilty of defamation when sued by E. Jean Carroll for allegedly mocking her claims of him sexually assaulting her in the 1990s. In January, a jury decided he should pay the former journalist more than $83 million. He appealed in March, filing a $91 million bond to do so. However, the court has not ruled in his favor.
On Thursday, April 25, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan upheld the defamation award granted to Carroll. A jury found that she deserved $65 million in punitive damages and $17.3 million in damage compensation. In his 18-page decision, Kaplan also denied Trump a new trial, saying his attacks on the journalist were “malicious and unceasing” and “disseminated to more than 100 million people.” Further, he said, “The jury was entitled to conclude that Mr. Trump derailed [her] career, reputation, and emotional well-being,” rejecting the notion that the award was excessive. He also wrote that the amount “passes constitutional muster.”
During the argument, Trump’s legal team said that evidence was excluded that would’ve helped mitigate damages. Additionally, the lawyers argued that Carroll received negative feedback before Trump even responded to her column in New York Magazine, saying he never met her and calling her a “whack job.” Kaplan pointed out that the derision poured in after Trump, who was president at the time, made his comments.
Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, said the legal team “categorically disagree[s] with Judge Kaplan’s decision.” The lawyers plan to appeal the decision to the Second Circuit. The former president has tried several times to appeal the decision as well as reduce the amount he has to pay and extend the deadline in which it’s due.
Carroll’s attorney, Robbie Kaplan, said he and his client were “pleased with, though not surprised, by the Court’s decision.”
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