Separate $83.3M defamation award remains under appeal
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected Trump’s request for a delay in a single-sentence order entered on the case docket on July 4, according to court records. The text-only order, which included no accompanying formal written opinion, means Trump must release the money from an escrow account to Carroll by Tuesday unless he files additional arguments.
The ruling came days after the U.S. Supreme Court declined without explanation to review the jury’s 2023 verdict that found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and defaming her.
In a subsequent filing, Trump’s attorneys cited the confirmation of former lead counsel Justin Smith to a federal judgeship in June on the president’s nomination. They argued that new lead counsel Josh Halpern needed more time “to become completely familiar with the facts and procedural circumstances.”
Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, who is no relation to the judge, countered that the request “appears to be little more than yet another play for time.” She noted that Trump nominated Smith to the court of appeals more than five months previously and had “ample time to retain new counsel.”
The $5.8 million judgment is distinct from a separate $83.3 million defamation award that a Manhattan civil jury granted to Carroll in 2024. Trump is appealing that larger award. In one of his final acts as Trump’s attorney, Smith wrote to the Supreme Court in June arguing that the court “may wish to consider the petitions together” given they involve the same parties.
Carroll’s lawyers have warned that a successful conjoined case could potentially wipe out both judgments. The second case raises questions of presidential immunity, as it relates to statements Trump made about Carroll during his first term.
Judge Kaplan has made several rulings in the case that have drawn Trump’s criticism. After the 2023 jury award, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that Kaplan, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, was a “Trump Hating, Clinton appointed judge” who controlled a jury from an “anti-Trump area.”