New York’s Second Circuit Court of Appeals has thrown out Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn a civil jury’s finding of sexual abuse and defamation. The ruling, issued on Monday, confirms the 2023 verdict that found the former president liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in a Manhattan department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. Trump was ordered to pay $5m in damages.
Sources close to the case confirm that Trump’s legal team argued the trial was tainted by improper evidence and that the damages were excessive. But the three-judge panel was unimpressed. In a terse opinion, they wrote that Trump had “failed to demonstrate any reversible error” and that the jury’s verdict “was supported by substantial evidence.” The appeal was rejected in full.
This is the second time Trump has tried to wriggle out of accountability. Earlier this year, a separate jury awarded Carroll an additional $83.3m for defamation after Trump continued to deny the assault. That case is also under appeal. But Monday’s decision is a bellwether. It shows that even the most powerful men cannot escape the law when evidence is clear.
Let’s be honest about what this case really tells us. Across the Atlantic, we have watched with growing dismay as America’s justice system becomes a playground for the rich and the connected. Trump has spent years dodging consequences. He has been indicted four times, convicted on 34 felony counts in New York for falsifying business records, and faced multiple civil suits. Yet he continues to run for president. The polarisation is toxic. It has turned courtrooms into political arenas where verdicts are read through red-blue lenses.
Here in Britain, we have our own problems. The Post Office Horizon scandal, the infected blood inquiry and the Grenfell Tower fire show that our institutions are far from perfect. But there is a difference. When a British court speaks, it is generally accepted. Our judiciary is not seen as a partisan weapon. It is a bulwark. The refusal to allow a billionaire to bully his way out of a sexual abuse finding would be unthinkable here. Not because we are morally superior, but because our legal culture prizes independence over ideology.
Consider the evidence in the Carroll case. Two other women testified that Trump assaulted them in similar ways. A former magazine executive detailed how Trump had groped her on a plane. A former Miss USA recounted how he walked in on her and another contestant while they were undressed. The jury believed them. They believed Carroll. And now a federal appeals court has said that belief was reasonable.
Trump’s response was predictable. He called it a “witch hunt” on his social media platform. He claimed the judge was biased. He said the whole thing was a political hit job. But the truth is simpler. The man was found liable for sexual abuse by a jury of his peers. That verdict has now been upheld. No amount of shouting or fundraising will change that.
The implications are profound. Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2024 election. He is a convicted felon and a civil sexual abuser. Yet his party rallies behind him. They call it a deep state conspiracy. They say the justice system is corrupt. They are undermining the very idea of rule of law. America is tearing itself apart.
Britain must look at this and learn. We must protect our judiciary from the kind of political assault that has hollowed out American trust. Our judges are not perfect. But they are not pawns. When a British court rules, it is with the weight of centuries of common law. We do not need to import the circus of US legal warfare.
Today’s decision is a small victory for truth. But it is also a warning. If America cannot hold its most powerful man accountable, what hope is there for the rest of us? The answer is that we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard. We have to be the gold standard. Because if we lose that, we lose everything.
