Another chapter in the long saga of legal battles surrounding Donald Trump ends with a clear no \u2013 this time from one of the most powerful US courts. By a vote of 8 to 2, the Second\u202fCircuit Court of Appeals on Friday rejected Trump\u2019s request to reopen the verdict in the E.\u202fJean\u202fCarroll case. That leaves him with only the Supreme Court \u2013 and that path is far from promising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the center of this decision is a verdict handed down by a jury in 2023: Trump was found liable for sexually abusing columnist E.\u202fJean\u202fCarroll in the mid-1990s in a Manhattan department store dressing room and later defaming her. The damages: $5 million. A second defamation case in January 2024 resulted in an additional $83.3 million. Carroll herself explained that she remained silent for more than two decades because she feared no one would believe her. Only after hearing Trump\u2019s \u201cAccess Hollywood\u201d tape did she decide to go public with her story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump, however, is fighting not just the verdict but reality itself. His defense argued that the trial was distorted by allegedly improper evidence\u2014such as the infamous recording in which Trump boasts about groping women without consent. They also claimed that other women\u2019s testimonies swayed the jury unfairly. A key defense point was that Carroll received financial support from LinkedIn co-founder Reid\u202fHoffman, a critic of Trump. But the court ruled this argument inadmissible\u2014and the appeals court agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Judge Myrna P\u00e9rez, appointed by Joe Biden, made this unequivocal in her reasoning: A retrial of a concluded case is not a proper use of en\u202fbanc review. Such review is only justified in rare cases involving extraordinary legal questions or clear conflicts with precedent. Neither condition applies here. Two Trump-appointed judges\u2014Steven\u202fMenashi and Michael\u202fPark\u2014dissented, citing a \u201cseries of indefensible evidentiary decisions\u201d and arguing the verdict relied on improper character evidence and few reliable facts. They remained in the minority. Three judges recused themselves without explanation. The judicial message is clear: Trump\u2019s arguments fail in court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under U.S. legal procedure, Trump had the chance to testify under oath during the trial\u2014but he chose not to. Instead, he left the courtroom dramatically during Carroll\u2019s testimony. A juror later told the press that they interpreted his actions as a sign of guilt and disrespect for the court. Carroll\u2019s attorney Robbie Kaplan commented with her client: Although President Trump continues to try every possible maneuver to challenge the findings of two separate juries, those efforts have failed. He remains liable for sexual assault and defamation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a statement, a Trump legal team spokesperson called it a democrats-funded Carroll hoax and framed the ruling as part of the political weaponization of our justice system. President Trump will keep winning against liberal lawfare and remain focused on his mission to make America great again. But that narrative is crumbling. Two jury verdicts in separate trials have independently condemned Trump\u2019s behavior. Despite attacks on the judiciary\u2019s integrity, it has shown remarkable resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On June 24, the next phase of this legal battle begins as the appeals court hears Trump\u2019s appeal in the second Carroll case. A key issue will be whether the Justice Department can substitute Trump as the defendant, potentially allowing him to avoid paying damages. The former federal judge John\u202fE.\u202fJones told NBC plainly: No one is above the law \u2013 not even a president. With each verdict, that statement gains credibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because beyond all the legal back and forth, one fact remains: Two juries have found a current and former president of the United States liable for sexual abuse and defamation. And not even the loudest campaign rhetoric can change that truth.<\/p>\n
Ein weiteres Kapitel in der langen Geschichte juristischer Auseinandersetzungen um Donald Trump endet mit einem deutlichen Nein \u2013 diesmal aus den Reihen des zweitm\u00e4chtigsten US-Gerichts. Mit einer Mehrheit von 8 zu 2 hat das Berufungsgericht des 2. US-Bezirks am Freitag Trumps Antrag abgelehnt, das Urteil im Fall E. Jean Carroll neu aufzurollen. Damit bleibt ihm […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"iawp_total_views":6,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[46,7,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dark-america","category-topstory","category-trump-s-world"],"yoast_head":"\n