2nd Circuit Denies Trump Carroll Verdict Rehearing 5-3

A divided panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled Wednesday that its full bench would not rehear former President Donald Trump's appeal of an $83.5 million defamation verdict awarded to magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll.

The decision, issued by a 5-3 vote among active judges, upholds a three-judge panel's September ruling affirming the January 2024 jury award. That verdict stemmed from Trump's 2022 statements denying Carroll's allegations of sexual abuse in the mid-1990s at a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in Manhattan and claiming she fabricated the account for political and financial gain. Trump had described Carroll as "not my type" and said he had never met her.

The case traces back to 2019, when Carroll detailed the alleged encounter in her memoir and sued Trump for defamation after his public denials. A separate May 2023 jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and additional defamation related to 2019 statements, awarding Carroll $5 million. Trump did not attend that trial but testified briefly in the second.

Trump sought an en banc rehearing to revisit arguments rejected by the panel, including whether the U.S. government should substitute as...