Overview
- The appeals court, in a 5-3 split on Wednesday, declined a full-court en banc review, leaving intact the panel ruling that upheld E. Jean Carroll’s $83.3 million defamation award.
- Judge Denny Chin wrote that Trump waited too long to seek substitution of the United States as the defendant and to invoke presidential immunity, so those defenses were waived.
- Judges Steven Menashi, Michael Park, and Debra Ann Livingston dissented, saying the court should revisit whether Trump’s comments were official acts and whether a new trial is warranted.
- Trump’s legal team said it will appeal to the Supreme Court, and Carroll cannot collect for now because Trump posted a roughly $92 million bond in 2024 to pause enforcement.
- Two juries have ruled against Trump in the Carroll cases, awarding $5 million in 2023 for sexual abuse and defamation and $83.3 million in 2024 for defamation, with the earlier case already the subject of a separate Supreme Court request.