Judge orders $5.8M be paid to E. Jean Carroll in Trump case

Judge orders $5.8M be paid to E. Jean Carroll in Trump case

A federal judge has ordered that writer E. Jean Carroll be paid $5.8 million from a judgment against President Donald Trump, rejecting the president's latest efforts to block the payment. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled on July 8 that funds held in a court-monitored escrow account be released to the former Elle magazine columnist.

The payment stems from a 2023 civil verdict in which a New York jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in a luxury Manhattan department store dressing room in 1996 and subsequently defaming her. The original $5 million award has grown to $5.8 million with accrued interest, though Trump's legal team has claimed the balance in the investment account is $6.4 million.

Trump's lawyers attempted to stall the payment through multiple filings. On July 4, Judge Kaplan denied a request for more time, which Trump's attorneys argued was necessary because new lead counsel Josh Halpern needed time to become familiar with the case following the June appointment of former lead counsel Justin Smith to a federal judgeship. Roberta Kaplan, lawyer for Carroll, countered that Trump had ample time to retain new counsel and called the request a play for time.

The president further argued in a Tuesday filing that he would suffer irreparable harm and an unrecoverable loss if the money were released while the Supreme Court considered a petition for rehearing. Trump's legal team cited reports that Carroll intended to spend the money on something Trump hates.

The Supreme Court had already declined to hear Trump's appeal of the 2023 verdict on June 29. While Trump's lawyers insisted a petition for rehearing was a serious petition, a docket entry on Tuesday indicated the justices have not accepted the latest filing.

Trump immediately appealed Judge Kaplan's July 8 order to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. However, Judge Eunice C. Lee rejected the emergency request to stop the transfer late Wednesday. In a memorandum, Judge Kaplan stated that Trump has been stalling this case for years and that it was time for him to do equity and pay.

The legal battle is split into two separate cases. The first resulted in the $5.8 million payment now due. The second, a 2024 trial, resulted in an $83.3 million award for defamation based on comments Trump made about Carroll during his first term as president. During that trial, Judge Kaplan required the jury to accept the findings of the previous jury regarding the abuse and determine only the damages for the subsequent defamation.

Trump is currently appealing the $83.3 million judgment. His lawyers argue that the two cases are intertwined and rely on official presidential statements, which they claim should be protected under the Supreme Court's 2024 ruling on presidential immunity. In an extraordinary move, Trump has attempted to replace himself as the defendant with the U.S. Government to fight for this immunity. The Justice Department has filed a brief claiming there is good cause to pause that case to argue immunity on the president's behalf.

Circuit Judge Denny Chin previously wrote that Trump had spent years claiming Carroll lied for financial and political gain and suggested she was too unattractive to have been assaulted. Chin noted that as a result, Carroll was harassed and humiliated, subjected to death threats, and feared for her physical safety for years.

Trump has consistently denied the allegations, calling the case a hoax, fake, and a con job designed to sell Carroll's 2019 memoir. He has repeatedly claimed he never met Carroll and told an interviewer she’s not my type. On June 30, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he would continue to fight the Weaponization and Lawfare Case with all his strength.

Following the 2nd Circuit's refusal to block the payment, the president had until Tuesday to release the funds from escrow or file additional arguments. Carroll's lawyers stated in a filing that she should not have to wait any longer after waiting more than three years for the verdict to be paid.