Trump requests new trial in E. Jean Carroll case

Former President Trump is requesting a new trial in the case brought against him by writer E. Jean Carroll after a grand jury last month found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation against her and ordered him to pay $5 million in damages. 

In a Thursday filing in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Trump’s team argues that the court “should order a new trial on damages or grant remittitur.” They wrote the $2 million awarded to Carroll for the sexual abuse verdict was “grossly excessive” because the jury found Trump did not commit rape, but rather committed sexual abuse. 

“Such abuse could have included groping of [Carroll’s] breasts through clothing or similar conduct, which is a far cry from rape. Therefore, an award of $2 million for such conduct, which admittedly did not cause any diagnosed mental injury to [Carroll], is grossly excessive under the applicable case law,” the filing reads. 

Carroll had accused Trump of raping her in a New York City department store in the mid-1990s and then defaming her when he denied the allegations.

The Thursday filing from Trump’s legal team further argues that the $2.7 million awarded for Carroll’s defamation claim against the former president was “based upon pure speculation.”

Trump has separately appealed the verdict in the Carroll case.