International Desk:
Before taking the oath, US President-elect Donald Trump has found himself in legal trouble again. He has lost an appeal in a sexual assault and defamation case against columnist Elizabeth Jane Carroll. The Manhattan Federal Appeals Court has upheld the verdict to award $5 million in damages against the president-elect in this case.
A court found Trump guilty in this case in May last year. However, the jury at the time did not mention it as a rape case. In the verdict, the court ordered Trump to pay a little more than $2 million for sexual assault and another $2.9 million for defamation of Carroll.
Earlier, the court rejected Trump’s request for a retrial in the case. In the new order, the court said that all evidence, including the testimony of the complainants, has been accurately presented in the case. Trump will take office for a second term as US President on January 20. The case is expected to continue during that time as well.
Meanwhile, in a statement in response to the appeals court’s ruling, Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan said, “Jane Carroll and I are both pleased with the verdict. We thank the court for carefully considering the plaintiff’s arguments.”
Carroll alleged that Trump raped her in a dressing room at a New York department store in 1996. At that time, she went there to buy a gift for a friend. Trump, who was previously known to her, was helping her choose a gift. In addition, Carroll also accused Trump of defamation.
In a separate defamation case, a Manhattan federal court ordered Trump to pay Carroll more than $8.3 million in damages in January 2019. Trump has also appealed this ruling.
Carroll had accused Trump of rape and defamation 20 years before he was first elected president. However, Trump has always denied all the allegations. He also claimed that he had never met Carroll. Trump denied the allegations at the time, saying that Carroll was staging a drama to gain “cheap popularity.”
Source: France 24
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