Trump’s $83 million appeal for E Jean Carroll defamation verdict rejected

Former President Donald Trump’s appeal request for E. Jean Carroll’s $83 million defamation suit verdict was denied.

In January, Trump was ordered to pay $83.3 million in a defamation lawsuit stemming from his denial of Carroll’s claim that he raped her in the mid-1990s. Trump almost immediately announced he would appeal the decision, an appeal that was shot down on Thursday.

In an 18-page ruling, Judge Lewis Kaplan dismissed the legal argument Trump’s attorneys used, saying that the legal precedent cited “has no application to the present case.”

“In short, the argument — which Mr. Trump previously made to the jury, conspicuously without success, and which defies common sense — does not warrant dismissal as a matter of law,” he wrote.

When the ruling was made in January, Trump released a statement bashing the verdicts.

“Absolutely ridiculous!” he said. “I fully disagree with both verdicts, and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party. Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon. They have taken away all First Amendment Rights.”

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In a separate trial last May, Trump was found liable for sexually assaulting Carroll. Jurors determined that while there was not a preponderance of evidence to prove that Trump raped Carroll, there was enough evidence to prove he sexually abused her and defamed her after she stepped forward with her claims.

Trump was in New York when Thursday’s ruling was made but for a separate trial. He is in New York for his hush money trial, brought forth by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.