Federal judge denies Trump’s bid for new trial in E. Jean Carroll case [Video]

A federal judge has denied former President Donald Trump’s request for a new trial in the civil suit brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll, who was awarded an $83.3 million judgment by a jury that found Trump liable for defamation in January.

The judge also denied a request to strike the damages in the case, which Trump had called “entirely out of proportion” with Carroll’s reputational injury.

“Mr. Trump’s argument is entirely without merit both as a matter of law and as a matter of fact,” U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote in an 18-page decision Thursday.

Roberta Kaplan, an attorney for Carroll who is unrelated to the judge, said she is “pleased with though not surprised by” the decision. 

“It was entirely reasonable for the jury to award E. Jean Carroll $83 million in damages given Donald Trump’s continued defamation of Ms. Carroll during the trial itself, as well as his conduct in the courtroom where his …