Carroll Seeks Court Order for $5 Million Payment from Trump
NEW YORK (AP) — E. Jean Carroll, the advice columnist who won a jury verdict against former President Donald Trump for sexual abuse and defamation, has asked a judge to enforce the payment of $5 million. The request comes after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Trump’s appeal, leaving the 2023 civil jury verdict intact.
On Tuesday, Carroll’s legal team submitted a motion in Manhattan federal court, arguing that Trump is unjustly attempting to delay the payout, which has grown to nearly $5.8 million with interest. The lawyers highlighted Trump’s continued defamatory remarks about Carroll as a reason for urgency.
Trump was absent from the trial where the jury concluded that he had sexually abused Carroll in a New York department store’s dressing room in the spring of 1996. The encounter reportedly began as a friendly meeting but turned violent, according to Carroll’s testimony.
Since Carroll’s public disclosure of the incident in 2019, Trump has consistently denied knowing her, attributing her claims to book sales ambitions and political motivations.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision, Trump expressed his intention to continue contesting the case, describing it as a “Weaponization and Lawfare Case” on social media. Shortly after this post, Trump’s legal representatives requested Carroll’s team to delay the payout while they consider a petition for the Supreme Court to revisit its ruling.
Carroll’s attorneys, Roberta Kaplan, D. Brandon Trice, and Maximilian T. Crema, have resisted further delays. They asserted in their court filing that since the Supreme Court’s decision was unanimous, there is no basis for postponement. “To date, Carroll has agreed to each of Defendant’s many requests to delay the payment he owes her… It is time for him to pay Carroll,” they stated.
Trump’s legal team has not yet responded to requests for comments regarding the ongoing legal proceedings.
In a related matter, Trump is also appealing an $83 million defamation award that another Manhattan jury granted to Carroll. This verdict followed a January 2024 trial where Trump briefly testified. During this trial, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan mandated that the jury adhere to the findings of the previous jury and solely focus on determining the monetary compensation due to Carroll.
