Donald Trump ordered to pay E Jean Carroll $US5.8m after sex abuse, defamation case
More than six years after E Jean Carroll first sued Donald Trump, a judge has ordered the release of a multimillion-dollar payout to the former Elle columnist.
A US judge has authorised a multimillion-dollar sum to be paid to magazine writer E Jean Carroll to satisfy a 2023 verdict that found US President Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming her.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan ordered the disbursement of nearly $US5.8 million ($A8.4 million) to the former Elle magazine advice columnist, representing the original $US5 million ($A7.2 million) verdict plus interest.
The funds had been held while Mr Trump appealed the verdict, but the US Supreme Court on June 29 declined to take up the Republican president’s case.
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Judge Kaplan said Ms Carroll was entitled to the money now, more than six-and-a-half years after she first sued Mr Trump in 2019.
“Defendant has been stalling this case for years,” the judge wrote.
“It is time for him to ‘do equity’ and pay the judgment.”
Mr Trump asked the federal appeals court in Manhattan to put the disbursement on immediate hold while he appealed.
The court denied his motion. Mr Trump’s lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the president’s next legal steps.
“The American People stand with President Trump as they demand an immediate end to all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes,” a spokesperson for Mr Trump’s lawyers said in a statement following Judge Kaplan’s order.
In a filing opposing the appeal, Ms Carroll’s lawyers called it Mr Trump’s latest effort to drag out proceedings, file meritless appeals, and raise new defences when old defences fail.
“Defendant is out of time,” Ms Carroll’s lawyers said.
“Carroll has waited more than three years for a jury’s verdict to be paid. She should not have to wait any longer.”
Ms Carroll’s lawyers have said their 82-year-old client intends to put the money in an interest-bearing account and use it to fund her retirement.
Ms Carroll accused Mr Trump, 80, of raping her around 1996 in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan.
Mr Trump has rejected Ms Carroll’s claims as a hoax and “con job”, denying he knew her and saying she made up the alleged rape to help sell her memoir.
Jurors awarded Ms Carroll $US5 million ($A7.2 million) based on a Mr Trump denial in 2022, though they did not find that Mr Trump raped her.
A different jury in 2024 ordered Mr Trump to pay Ms Carroll $US83.3 million ($A120 million) in damages based on his original denial in 2019, which occurred during his first White House term.
Mr Trump has said he deserves presidential immunity for that denial. Last September, the federal appeals court in Manhattan declined to throw out the $US83.3 million verdict.
Mr Trump plans to appeal that decision to the Supreme Court, and his lawyers said a successful appeal could undermine the basis for the $US5 million verdict.
If you or someone you know needs help, contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732), or Sexual Assault Counselling Australia on 1800 211 028, the WA Sexual Assault Resource Centre on 6458 1828 or 1800 199 888 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.
