President-elect Trump’s transition team criticized the federal appeals court panel’s decision on Monday that upheld the jury verdict holding Trump responsible for sexually abusing journalist E. Jean Carroll and ordering him to pay $5 million. Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump set to serve as his White House communications director, stated that Trump will continue to challenge the verdict. “The American People have re-elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate, and they demand an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and a swift dismissal of all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded Carroll Hoax, which will continue to be appealed,” Cheung said in a statement. “We look forward to uniting our country in the new administration as President Trump makes America great again,” he added.
A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit decided on Monday that Trump failed to show any alleged errors that affected his rights or justified a new trial. “On review for abuse of discretion, we conclude that Mr. Trump has not demonstrated that the district court erred in any of the challenged rulings,” the panel wrote in its unsigned opinion.
The New York jury found Trump accountable last year for sexually assaulting Carroll in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the mid-1990s and defaming her by rejecting her account when she came forward during Trump’s first presidency. Trump insisted on a new trial over claims that the jury heard improper testimony and that he was unfairly prevented from asking Carroll specific questions during cross-examination.
The panel dismissed all these arguments, stating that testimony from two other women who accused Trump of sexual misconduct and the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump is heard boasting about sexually assaulting women without their consent were correctly admitted as evidence.
