Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian expose how Donald Trump’s presidential immunity defense spectacularly backfired when the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an $83.3 million defamation judgment for E. Jean Carroll. The court demolished Trump’s argument that calling Carroll a liar was official presidential business, ruling it was “quintessentially personal conduct” stemming from his own sexual assault. They break down how Trump’s relentless five-year harassment campaign—escalating to threats he’d defame Carroll “a thousand times” even during trial—earned him a crushing $65 million punitive damage award designed to finally silence his attacks. This landmark ruling proves that even sitting presidents can’t hide behind immunity when waging personal vendettas against sexual assault survivors.