Photo: Arturo Holmes / Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images
Writer E. Jean Carroll has received more than $5 million from President Donald Trump as part of a civil judgment after a Manhattan federal jury found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation in 2023. The payment was made following a series of court battles and appeals that delayed the disbursement for over three years.
The funds, totaling more than $5.6 million including interest, were released from an escrow account managed by the court. This release came after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review President Trump's appeal on June 29. Carroll’s legal team then requested the Manhattan trial court to order the payment, a request the judge granted despite further attempts by Trump's legal team to delay it, USA Today reported.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who presided over the case, wrote in his July 8 order that Trump "has been stalling this case for years," adding, "It is time for him to 'do equity' and pay the judgment." Both parties had previously agreed that funds would be held in the court's registry investment system (Cris) while Trump’s appeals were ongoing. The funds would be released if his appeals failed, as occurred when the Supreme Court declined his case.
Carroll's lawsuit stems from her claims that President Trump assaulted her in a New York department store dressing room in the 1990s and then defamed her by publicly denying the allegation and calling it a "con job" in 2022. President Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and continues to reject the jury’s verdict.
In a statement, Carroll's lawyer Roberta Kaplan said, "Three years ago, a unanimous nine-person jury found President Trump liable for sexually assaulting and defaming E. Jean Carroll. Today, we are pleased to report that she has received the damages payment the jury awarded her as a result of that verdict."
In a separate case, Carroll was awarded $83.3 million in 2024 by another Manhattan jury for defamatory comments Trump made while he was president. That judgment remains under appeal.