A federal judge on Wednesday authorized the release of more than $5 million to author E. Jean Carroll, dismissing a final attempt by President Donald Trump to halt the transfer of funds stemming from a 2023 civil trial. U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan issued the directive for the court clerk to disburse the money, which was previously deposited into a court-managed escrow account and has expanded to roughly $5.8 million due to accumulated interest. The ruling follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal late last month to review Trump’s appeal of the initial verdict, which found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation.
The dispute traces back to a May 2023 Manhattan civil trial where a Manhattan jury concluded that Trump sexually abused the former magazine columnist inside a luxury department store dressing room in 1996 and subsequently damaged her reputation with false, vitriolic denials when she went public with the allegations in a 2019 memoir. Trump has consistently maintained his innocence and denied all allegations of wrongdoing. After the verdict, Trump deposited the judgment into the court registry while challenging the ruling through the appeals process. Carroll’s attorneys sought release of the funds after the Supreme Court declined to review the case late last month.
Trump’s legal team argued the payment should remain on hold because he has filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to rehear his appeal. His attorneys contended that releasing the money could result in an “unrecoverable loss” if Carroll follows through on previous statements that she intends to donate the award. Judge Kaplan rejected that argument, determining the conditions governing the escrowed funds had been satisfied and that Carroll was entitled to receive the judgment. Trump immediately appealed the disbursement order.
This particular payout addresses only the first of two successful civil lawsuits brought against Trump by the 82-year-old writer. A separate Manhattan federal jury in January 2024 awarded Carroll an additional $83 million in damages after determining that Trump continued to defame her through public statements he issued from the White House in 2019 and during subsequent public appearances. That separate multi-million dollar verdict remains under active appeal by Trump’s legal team, with a filing deadline for a Supreme Court review slated for later this month.
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