19 July 2023 , 13:46
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Donald Trump has failed in his attempt to appeal the $5 million judgment awarded against him by a jury that found he sexually abused and defamed a former magazine columnist.
In a 59-page ruling today, Judge Lewis Kaplan threw out the former president’s hopes of forcing his victim, writer E. Jean Carroll, back to court after he disputed the May verdict.
Appearing to take a swipe at Mr Trump’s grounds for an appeal, the justice took apart his argument on which the businessman asked for a retrial.
Judge Kaplan wrote: “The jury, in this case, did not reach ‘a seriously erroneous result.’
“Its verdict is not ‘a miscarriage of justice'.
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“Mr Trump's motion for a new trial on damages or a remittitur is denied.”
E. Jean Carroll (AP)The former US leader's said the verdict against him was "a seriously erroneous result" and "a miscarriage of justice" in his bid for a retrial.
Mr Trump’s lawyers filed the notice of appeal in the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals hours after federal Judge Kaplan filed a written ruling endorsing the jury’s verdict and ordering the businessman to pay Ms Carroll the full sum.
Previously the justice rejected Mr Trump’s claim that absolute presidential immunity protected him from the defamation claims made against him Ms Carroll.
In a withering putdown, Kaplan told him being president does not give him a “get-out-of-damages-liability-free card".
Ms Carroll was awarded £5 million (£3.87 million) after a civil jury found he previously defamed and sexually abused her.
In May, a New York civil jury concluded after a two-week trial that the businessman attacked her in a luxury department store dressing room in the spring of 1996.
It also found that he defamed her in comments he made denying the attack in a statement last October and in a deposition the same month.
On his social media platform Truth Social, Mr Trump said he had been told to report to a grand jury (AFP via Getty Images)But the jury rejected Ms Carroll's claims, first made in a 2019 memoir, that Mr Trump raped her in the Bergdorf Goodman dressing room.
The millionaire, who is seeking the Republican nomination to run for president again next year, did not appear at the trial.
It comes amid a difficult week for the former president, who said he expects to be arrested by a federal inquiry into the riots at the Capitol building on January 6, 2021.
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On his social media platform Truth Social, Mr Trump said he had been told to report to a grand jury. The 45th president said this almost always means an Arrest and Indictment."
The Department of Justice (DoJ) has not confirmed if charges are due to be brought.
In December, Congress' House Jan. 6 committee's final report asserted that Donald Trump criminally engaged in a "multi-part conspiracy" to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election.
Charges were recommended on the following grounds:
- Charge 1: obstruction of an official proceeding
- Charge 2: conspiracy to defraud the US
- Charge 3: conspiracy to make a false statement
- Charge 4: "Incite, "assist" or "aid or comfort" an insurrection
Committee Vice-Chair Liz Cheney said: "No man who ever behaved that way at that moment in time should ever serve in public office again."
The DoJ is not obliged to follow Congress' recommendations.
A target letter, meanwhile, does not necessarily mean charges will be brought. Mr Smith declined to comment on the matter.
Target letters can be used to invite the target to appear before a grand jury to offer evidence, or means investigators have substantial evidence of its recipient being linked to criminal activity.
There is no evidence the 2020 presidential election was stolen (AP)He wrote: “WOW On Sunday night, while I was with my family, having just arrived from the Turning Point event in Florida, where I won the Straw Poll against all other Republican candidates with 85.7%, with all polls showing me leading in the Republican Primary by very substantial numbers, almost everyone predicting that I will be the Republican Nominee for President, and as I am leading Democrat Joe Biden in the polls by a lot, HORRIFYING NEWS for our Country was given to me by my attorneys.
“Deranged Jack Smith, the prosecutor with Joe Biden’s DOJ, sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment.”
Special Counsel Jack Smith - the prosecutor leading the federal investigation - was branded "deranged" by the furious 2024 presidential candidate. He also said Attorney General Merrick Garland is "unethical."
"I didn't know practically what a subpoena was and grand juries and all of this. Now I'm becoming an expert, I have no choice because we have to," he added at a campaign event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. "It's a disgrace."
Over 1,000 people who participated in the January 6 have been charged.
State prosecutors in Georgia are investigating if Mr Turmp pressured state officials to throw out President Joe Biden's victory.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger spoke with the then-President in December 2020 and asked Georgia officials if they could "find 11,780 votes."
More legal troubles for Mr Trump centre around charges against him in New York City alleging he is responsible for falsifying business records in regards to hush money payment paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
A trial is set for next March.
Elsewhere, Mr Trump has denied 37 counts of illegally retaining classified documents and obstructing the US government’s efforts to get them back. He entered a not guilty plea in a Miami federal court in June.
Mr Smith said he hopes for a "speedy trial" that is "consistent with the public interest and the rights of the accused."
The 37 charges against Mr Trump include 31 alleged violations of the Espionage Act