A federal appeals court has declined to grant a rare en banc hearing to consider Donald Trump’s appeal of an $83m defamation verdict in favour of advice columnist E Jean Carroll. The decision by the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday came almost 18 months after Trump appealed following his 2024 election win.
The court was divided, with a majority of 12 judges voting against a rehearing before all active judges. Judge Denny Chin noted this was the fourth time the court had denied such a request. The case stems from Carroll’s 2019 accusation that Trump sexually abused her in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the 1990s, which Trump denied, calling her claims false and saying “she’s not my type”.
Carroll sued for defamation in November 2019. A jury in May 2023 found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, awarding $5m. A second trial in January 2024 awarded Carroll $83m for defamation. Trump appealed, but a three-judge panel upheld the verdict in September 2024.
In a statement, Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan said her client was “eager for this case, originally filed in 2019, to be over so that she can finally obtain justice”. Trump’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Three circuit judges voted for the en banc hearing, arguing in a dissent that the United States should have been substituted as the defendant and that Trump should have been able to claim presidential immunity. They also called the $83m award “grossly excessive”. Judge Chin, however, defended the award, noting Trump’s repeated attacks on Carroll and lack of remorse.
