A federal appeals court in New York confirmed on Monday that a jury’s decision stating that President-elect Donald Trump sexually abused and defamed columnist E. Jean Carroll stands, requiring him to pay her $5 million.

The judges stated, “We find that Mr. Trump has not proven any legal errors made by the district court that would warrant a new trial.” They added that he failed to show how any alleged errors compromised his rights significantly.

Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s attorney, expressed gratitude to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for their thorough examination of the case.

“E. Jean Carroll and I are very pleased with today’s ruling,” Kaplan mentioned in a statement.

Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, asserted that the American people have re-elected Trump and seek a prompt resolution to legal matters, including Carroll’s lawsuit. Cheung stated that Trump will persist in appealing the case.

Carroll filed the lawsuit against Trump, alleging that he assaulted her in a department store fitting room during the 1990s and later damaged her reputation by dismissing her claims as a “con job” in 2022. Trump has categorically denied the allegations and contested the Manhattan civil jury’s unanimous verdict.

In his appeal, Trump’s legal team criticized trial Judge Lewis Kaplan’s choice to allow two other women to provide testimony that Trump had assaulted them as well. Trump, who professes his innocence, claimed he deserved a new trial.

However, judges Denny Chin, Susan Carney, and Myrna Perez of the appeals court disagreed. Chin and Carney were appointed by former President Barack Obama, and Perez was appointed by President Joe Biden.

The court stated that while certain evidence is typically excluded, it can be admitted under specific circumstances, such as demonstrating someone’s “motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, absence of mistake, or lack of accident.”

The court noted that when Congress established the rules cited by Trump, they permitted the inclusion of evidence indicating that a “defendant has the motivation or disposition to commit sexual acts.”

One of the women testified that Trump forcibly kissed her while she was interviewing him for a magazine in the mid-2000s, while the other shared an experience of Trump grabbing her breasts and attempting to kiss her aboard an airplane in the late 1970s. Trump denies these claims as well.

The Trump legal team also contested the jury’s access to Trump’s past comments on an “Access Hollywood” tape where he claimed he kisses women without their consent and suggested that celebrities can grab women by their private parts.

The appeals court concluded, “The jury could reasonably have inferred from those comments that Mr. Trump has previously kissed women against their will and then proceeded to inappropriate touching.”

Carroll’s legal representatives argued that her sexual abuse case against Trump was straightforward, emphasizing testimonies from two of Carroll’s friends who recalled hearing her recount the assault shortly after it occurred. They also stressed that the additional testimonies from other women indicated Trump’s pattern of assaulting women in remarkably similar ways over the years.

The $5 million judgment is just one aspect of Trump’s ongoing legal issues related to Carroll. A different federal jury previously awarded Carroll $83.3 million for comments Trump made in 2019, shortly after she publicly alleged the assault. During that time, Trump suggested that “people should face severe consequences for such false claims.” Trump is also appealing this larger verdict.

Trump has consistently contested Carroll’s allegations, stating her account is untrue and asserting she is not his “type.” Carroll’s legal team pointed out that during a deposition in 2022, Trump mistakenly identified Carroll in a photo from 1987 as his ex-wife, Marla Maples. Carroll provided extensive testimony regarding her assault claims and was cross-examined by Trump’s legal representatives.