Trump arrives at federal appeals court in New York to overturn verdict in E. Jean Carroll $83.3million defamation case

Donald Trump appeared before a federal appeals court in New York to overturn the verdict in an $83.3 million lawsuit that found him liable for defaming journalist E. Jean Carroll.

The former president’s motorcade was spotted Friday morning at the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan, where lawyers presented oral arguments to a panel of three judges, all appointed by Democratic presidents.

Dressed in his trademark navy suit and bright red tie, Trump entered the courtroom, walking past Carroll, who was seated in the front row of the public gallery.

It is the presidential candidate’s first court appearance since his assassination attempt in July. Security is tight, with visitors having to pass through metal detectors upon arrival.

All telephones and other electronics were prohibited in the courtroom.

The Republican nominee is challenging the May 2023 verdict, which stems from his alleged encounter with Carroll in the mid-1990s. Carroll alleged that Trump sexually assaulted her in the fitting room of Bergdorf Goodman department store and later defamed her when he publicly denied her allegations.

His lawyers argue that the trial court erred by allowing certain evidence, such as the Access Hollywood tape and testimony from other women who accused Trump of sexual misconduct decades ago.

In his two-minute rebuttal, Trump’s lawyer John Sauer called the case “a textbook example of improbable allegations supported by highly inflammatory, inadmissible” evidence.

He also repeated Trump’s claims from his testimony that he “never met” Carroll.

In her address to the panel, Sauer called the trial a “typical ‘he said, she said’ case,” lacking “physical evidence,” “eyewitnesses” and police records.

Judge Denny Chin interrupted Sauer’s argument, noting that the type of evidence is difficult to overturn on appeal. He asked him why the verdict should be overturned.

Sauer challenged U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan’s decision to admit into evidence the infamous Access Hollywood tape, in which Trump is heard bragging about grabbing women’s genitals, and the testimony of Jessica Leeds, who accused Trump of groping her on an airplane in the late 1970s.

He also argued that the law making Trump’s conduct a crime was not passed until 15 years later.

But Judge Chin wondered if Trump would put his hands up her skirt. Would that not count?

Saur stressed that Leeds’ evidence should have been excluded.

Judge Chin continued to press Saur for more information about the Access Hollywood tape, saying it was a “confession about a modus operandi.”

Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan stood by the evidence presented at trial.

She maintained that Leeds’ testimony was admissible under a law enacted in 1979 and that the incident should therefore be considered a crime, as trial judge Lewis Kaplan concluded.

The lawyer also argued that Trump has a “pattern” of attacking women, which begins with him “nicely approaching” women before suddenly “attacking” them and then tearing them down when he’s accused of it.

A jury found Trump liable for the sexual harassment of Carroll, a journalist, in a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s.

The jury awarded the former Elle magazine advice columnist $2.02 million and $2.98 million, respectively, for her sexual abuse and defamation charges.

Trump was separately found liable for defaming Carroll in a second trial that took place in January of this year, with a jury ordering him to pay her $83.3 million for defaming her and damaging her reputation in June 2019 after she first accused him of rape..

In their appeal, filed in November, Trump’s lawyers argued that he could not get a fair trial in New York. The former president alleged that federal Judge Lewis Kaplan made “an error” in rulings during the May 2023 trial that “violated President Trump’s rights.”

Judge Kaplan’s rulings were “false and damaging.” For example, the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape was allowed to be read to the jury. The tape showed Trump bragging about women with their genitals.

The filing states: “The incorrect verdict in this case is a gross miscarriage of justice, supported by political operatives who have long opposed President Trump and his policies, based on false and unsubstantiated claims.”

In other legal documents, Trump’s lawyers claimed the attack on Carroll “never happened.”

He accused her of making the allegations because of her “significant political bias against him” and “turned her accusations against (Trump) into a lifestyle and tried to make as much money as possible from her accusations.”

Trump’s lawyers say Carroll’s position has not been harmed by the claims, but has actually improved as a result of her media interviews.

Trump is also appealing the $83 million verdict, but no date has been set for an oral hearing.

The former president is set to be sentenced in a New York court on September 18 for falsifying business records related to a $130,000 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Trump was found guilty on all 34 charges earlier this year after a high-profile trial.

He also faces a $450 million fine after losing a civil fraud case brought by prosecutors in New York State, and two criminal cases in Washington and Atlanta over election interference.

Neither trial is expected to take place before the election.

A third criminal case in Florida involving mishandling of classified documents was recently dismissed by a judge, a decision that is being challenged by prosecutors.

Trump denies all allegations.