Appeals court deals Trump blow in challenge to E Jean Carroll verdict

An appellate court in New York on Friday rejected President Donald Trump’s bid to toss out a jury’s verdict that the president sexually abused and defamed former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll.

The full panel of judges for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit declined to hear Trump’s arguments, leaving Trump the option to turn to the Supreme Court as the last form of relief in a yearslong case that stemmed from Carroll’s shocking claim in 2019 that Trump raped her in a dressing room three decades ago.

In his appeal, Trump challenged evidence that Carroll’s legal team introduced to the jury during the civil lawsuit, including the Access Hollywood tape that su...