Judge rejects Trump’s request for new trial in E Jean Carroll civil case

On Wednesday, a federal court denied Donald Trump's request for a new trial in a civil lawsuit brought by E Jean Carroll, in which a jury held Trump guilty for sexually harassing and defaming the writer and paid her $5 million in damages.

The jury did not reach a "seriously erroneous result," according to US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan, and the 9 May verdict was not a "miscarriage of justice," according to a 59-page opinion.

Carroll had accused Trump of raping her in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the mid-1990s, only for Trump to dismiss the allegation in an October 2022 post on his Truth Social platform.

Trump contended that paying Carroll $2 million in compensatory damages for sexual assault was "excessive" since the jury determined he did not rape her, but the amount for defamation was based on "pure speculation."

Lawyers for Trump and Carroll did not immediately respond to requests for comment.