A federal appeal court on Monday upheld a civil jury’s finding that US President Donald Trump must pay US $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll for his repeated social media attacks against the long-time agony aunt after she accused him of sexual assault.
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A three-judge panel of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Trump’s appeal of the defamation award, finding that the “jury’s damages awards are fair and reasonable”.
Trump had argued the damages were unreasonably excessive and pushed for a new trial in light of the Supreme Court’s expansion of presidential immunity.
But the appeal court roundly rejected those arguments, writing that Trump’s “extraordinary and unprecedented” broadsides against Carroll justified the steep award.
“Given the unique and egregious facts of this case, we conclude that the punitive damages award did not exceed the bounds of reasonableness,” the three-judge panel concluded.
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Lawyers for Trump did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.