Donald Trump on Friday (March 8) appealed E. Jean Carroll’s $83.3 million defamation verdict.
The 80-year-old writer filed a defamation case against the former US president after he branded her a liar following accusations of rape against him.
Trump in his appeal to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said that he would cover “all adverse orders, rulings, decrees, decisions, opinions, memoranda, conclusions, or findings” leading to the Jan. 26 verdict.
He further disclosed that he had lined up a $91.63 million bond from Federal Insurance Co. for the appeal.
The appeal originated from a Manhattan jury’s finding in June 2019 that Trump had defamed Carroll, a former journalist for Elle magazine, by refuting her claim that he had sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in the mid-1990s.
Jurors awarded Carroll $18.3 million of compensatory damages, which included $7.3 million for emotional harm and $11 million for reputational harm.
They also awarded her punitive damages in the amount of $65 million.
Trump has argued that he shouldn’t owe anything, or as an alternative, the amounts owed should be much decreased.
Jean Carroll vs Donald Trump
Elizabeth Jean Carroll or E. Jean Carroll is best known for being an advice columnist for Elle magazine for over 26 years. The column mostly revolved around Carroll’s view that women should not plan their lives around men.
She sued Trump in November 2019 after New York state temporarily changed laws to let adult rape victims sue their abusers over decades-old abuse. Carroll alleged that during the mid-1990s; the businessman had raped her in a department store dressing room in Manhattan.
Donald Trump has repeatedly denied raping Carroll or even knowing her back then. He dismissed the accusation, saying “She’s not my type”. He also took to his social media platform ‘Truth Social’ and called the writer’s claims lies and “hoax”.
(With inputs from agencies)
