Judge denies Trump’s request for new trial in defamation case

A federal judge in New York on Thursday rejected former President Donald Trump’s claims that the $83.3 million in damages he was ordered to pay writer E. Jean Carroll for defamation were excessive and also denied Trump’s request for a new trial.

Judge Lewis Kaplan in a written opinion said Trump’s argument “is entirely without merit both as a matter of law and as a matter of fact.”

The judge also wrote that the $65 million in punitive damages awarded by the jury “passes constitutional muster.”

“Mr. Trump’s malicious and unceasing attacks on Ms. Carroll were disseminated to more than 100 million people,” Kaplan wrote. “They included public threats and personal attacks, and they endangered Ms. Carroll’s health and safety.”

The jury, Kaplan added, was “entitled to conclude that Mr. Trump derailed the career, reputation, and emotional well-being of one of America’s most successful and prominent advice columnists and authors.”

Trump’s attorneys filed a motion requesting a new trial, arguing the court “erred in excluding evidence and in instructing the jury on common law malice.”

They also said the $7.3 million and $11 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in punitive damages awards “were excessive and must be remitted.”

Trump, they added, made statements about Carroll to “defend his reputation, protect his family, and defend his Presidency.”