E. Jean Carroll has received the $5 million judgment that a jury awarded her against Donald Trump in 2023, court records confirm. The payment, which totaled $5,625,005.48 with interest, was released from escrow this month after the Supreme Court rejected Trump's appeal bid.
The case stemmed from Carroll's 2022 lawsuit alleging Trump sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan department store dressing room during a 1996 encounter, then defamed her when she made her claims public in 2019. Trump has consistently denied knowing Carroll and said he committed no wrongdoing.
The jury verdict came in 2023, but the money remained frozen in court while Trump pursued various appeals. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered the disbursement after the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, clearing the way for Carroll to finally collect.
Trump's legal team mounted a last-minute effort to block the payment, arguing that Carroll had stated her intention to give the money away. They warned that once distributed to third parties, the funds "likely cannot be recovered" if Trump succeeded in future legal action.
Carroll's attorneys responded that those prior statements about giving away the funds referred only to a separate $83 million judgment she obtained against Trump in a related defamation case. They said Carroll plans to deposit the $5 million judgment into an interest-bearing account for her retirement and will keep it there at least until Trump's Supreme Court petition in the second case is resolved.
Trump has also asked the Supreme Court to hear his appeal in that separate defamation case.
A Trump campaign spokesperson said the judgment was part of what they characterized as "Democrat-funded" legal action against the president, vowing he would continue to prevail against what they called "Liberal Lawfare." Carroll's attorney Roberta Kaplan said in a statement that her client was pleased to finally receive the damages the jury had awarded.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "After three years of legal maneuvering and blocked appeals, Carroll's victory finally converts from courtroom win to actual dollars in hand, though Trump's fight in the second, far larger case is far from over."
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