Topline
A federal appeals court considered Tuesday whether President Donald Trump will have to pay writer E. Jean Carroll the nearly $90 million awarded to her for defamation, giving little indication of how they’ll rule, though the court already dealt the president a blow by rejecting his attempt to have the government take over his case.
E. Jean Carroll exits New York Federal Court after a court heard her case against President Donald … More
Key Facts
A panel of judges heard arguments Tuesday over whether to overturn the Jan. 2024 ruling in Carroll v. Trump, in which a jury ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million for defaming Carroll when he verbally attacked her after she publicly accused him of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s.
The judges, who were appointed by Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, gave little indication of how they’ll rule, posing questions to both sides about their legal arguments without expressing strong opinions one way or another.
The president has asked the court to consider both the damages he was ordered to pay and whether he’s liable for defamation at all—which wasn’t at issue during the trial itself, as the court used a ruling in a different case Caroll brought against Trump to find him liable for defamation, just asking the jury to determine how much he had to pay in damages.
Trump’s lawyers argue the case should be thrown out because he has presidential immunity from liability—since he made the comments about Carroll while he was in office—also claiming the district court hearing the case excluded some evidence that could have helped Trump and improperly instructed the jury regarding how it should calculate damages.
The case is moving forward in appeals court after judges ruled last week not to grant Trump’s request to have the Justice Department replace him as a party in the case, as the president argued the case should be against the U.S. government since Trump was in the White House when he defamed Carroll.
That ruling was a blow to Trump, as if the court had ruled in his favor, it would have made it much easier to throw the case out, given federal rules granting federal officials immunity from legal liability for their official acts in office.
What Happened During Tuesday’s Hearing?
Judges posed questions to both sides on Tuesday during oral arguments without tipping their hands on which way they could rule. Trump’s attorney Justin Smith was questioned about why Trump and his legal team waited so long to bring up some of his claims, and why the president didn’t appeal a previous order the court issued that denied him immunity in the case. Roberta Kaplan, who represents Carroll, was also asked to defend the high amount of damages the jury awarded Trump, as well as explain to the court why the Supreme Court’s ruling last year giving Trump more immunity from legal liability doesn’t affect this case. Smith argued the Supreme Court’s decision revived the question of whether Trump has immunity despite the earlier court ruling saying he didn’t, also claiming that the $83.3 million Trump was ordered to pay is disproportionately high compared to related cases. Kaplan argued the Supreme Court’s ruling doesn’t change the previous facts about the case and defended both the compensatory and punitive damages the jury awarded Carroll, pointing to the numerous death threats the writer has received due to Trump’s attacks against her and his continued attacks against both Carroll and the legal case against him. Trump “showed his hatred and disdain” for Carroll and “the judicial process” at the 2024 trial and “continued to defame Ms. Carroll throughout the trial,” Kaplan claimed, arguing to the court, “That kind of record … certainly justified the punitive damages award.”
What To Watch For
It’s unclear how long it will take the appeals court to issue a ruling in the case. Once it does, the losing party could still ask the full appeals court to reconsider the case, and also take the dispute to the Supreme Court. Trump won’t have to pay Carroll until the appeals process is fully over.
Big Number
$89 million. That’s approximately how much Trump now owes Carroll, based on the $83.3 million he was ordered to pay her initially and the 4.76% interest that accrues on the judgment as the appeals process plays out. The interest keeps accruing until the appeals process is finally over, at which point Trump would either have to pay Carroll or the judgement against him would be wiped out. Trump has already posted $91.6 million in bond in the case, which will be used to pay out the judgment, should he end up losing his appeal. In addition to the damages in this case, Trump was also separately ordered to pay Carroll $5 million as part of her other lawsuit against him, which went to trial first. An appeals court has already ruled against Trump in that case.
Forbes Valuation
Forbes estimates Trump’s net worth at $5.2 billion as of Monday, making him the 722nd richest person in the world. The president, whose net worth has shot up thanks to his crypto ventures and stake in Trump Media and Technology Group, has about $900 million in liquid assets that he could use to pay the legal judgments against him. That includes the Carroll cases and the $454 million he was ordered to pay in the civil fraud case against him and his company, a fee that’s now ballooned to more than $500 million as interest has accrued. An appeals court is now deliberating on whether to uphold that judgement.
Surprising Fact
Carroll, who is promoting a new memoir based on her litigation against Trump, told Newsweek last week she intends to use the damages from Trump to establish an E. Jean Carroll Foundation that will donate to causes that Trump disfavors. “My mission is to make him so angry and so mad by taking this $83.3 million and giving it to things that Trump hates,” Carroll said, outlining the foundation’s areas of focus as “women’s reproductive rights, binding up the wounds that he’s inflicting on democracy and shoring up voting rights.”
Key Background
Carroll alleged in 2019 that Trump sexually assaulted her in the 1990s in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room, causing the then-president to vehemently deny her claims and attack Carroll, whom he described as being not “my type.” The writer went on to file two lawsuits against Trump: one alleging only defamation, and a second that also accused him of sexual assault under New York’s Adult Survivors Act. The second lawsuit ended up going to trial first, with a jury ruling in May 2023 that Trump was liable for defamation and sexual assault—but not rape—and ordering him to pay $5 million. The first lawsuit, after being tied up in court for years, then went to trial in January 2024, with the jury ordering the $83.3 million penalty. Trump has continued to deny any wrongdoing against Carroll and publicly attack the writer, whose lawyers have not ruled out bringing further litigation against him.
Further Reading
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