E. Jean Carroll receives $5.6 million owed by Trump after court releases damages

A Manhattan federal court has released more than $5.6 million that Donald Trump owes E. Jean Carroll from her successful 2023 sexual abuse and defamation trial against him, according to court records. The disbursement, made public in a July 14 entry on Carroll's case docket, indicates that the funds were released from a court-held account on July 9 – one day after Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered the release.

Trump, who has been fighting the release of this money since June 2023 after the Supreme Court on June 29 denied his request to hear his appeal, has denied wrongdoing. “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,” Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s lead lawyer, said in a statement.

Carroll’s legal team promptly requested the judge to order the release of these funds following the Supreme Court’s decision. Trump’s legal team asked for more time to respond, but the judge denied that request. Both Carroll and Trump’s lawyers had previously agreed that Trump could deposit the jury award with the court’s registry investment system (Cris) while he pursued his appeals. Cris functions as an escrow agent for funds awarded in litigation if legal processes continue after a judgment. If a defendant’s appeals fail, the money is available to the victor.

The agreement specified that the money should be released upon certain legal developments, including a Supreme Court refusal to hear the appeal. Before the Supreme Court’s rejection, Trump had mounted multiple unsuccessful appeals. Trump’s team argued in court filings that Carroll’s team misinterpreted this provision and insisted that the money should remain in Cris since he was asking the Supreme Court to reconsider.

In a separate 2024 trial, another Manhattan federal court jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million for defamatory comments Trump made about her while he was president. The two jury awards stem from a 2019 New York magazine feature that excerpted Carroll’s book, “What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal.” Carroll claimed in the book that Trump sexually assaulted her about three decades earlier in the fitting room of a luxury New York department store.