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A federal judge rejected former President Donald Trump's bid for a new trial, upholding the verdict in E. Jean Carroll's defamation lawsuit and the $83.3 million in damages.
Judge Lewis Kaplan said that the damages were not excessive and that Trump's comments when denying Carroll's claims that he sexually assaulted her in a department store in the 1990s "endangered [her] health and safety."
"Contrary to the defendant's arguments, Ms. Carroll's compensatory damages were not awarded solely for her emotional distress; they were not for garden variety harms; and they were not excessive," Judge Kaplan wrote.
"Mr. Trump's malicious and unceasing attacks on Ms. Carroll were disseminated to more than 100 million people," he continued. "They included public threats and personal attacks, and they endangered Ms. Carroll's health and safety."
Judge Kaplan noted that his continued attacks against her and her credibility "derailed her career" as a columnist and author.
"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."