Court releases $5.6M to E Jean Carroll after Trump’s appeals fail
- The Manhattan federal court released more than $5.6 million from a court-held escrow account to E Jean Carroll one day after Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered the funds disbursed.
- The Supreme Court on June 29 declined to hear Trump’s appeal of the verdict, triggering the release under the terms of the escrow agreement.
- Trump has denied wrongdoing; his legal team argued the funds should remain in escrow while he sought reconsideration from the Supreme Court.
- Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan said the payment fulfilled the damages a unanimous jury awarded in 2023 for sexual abuse and defamation.
- A separate $83.3 million defamation award against Trump from a 2024 trial remains in escrow pending appeal.
Separate $83.3M defamation award remains in escrow
The disbursement, made public in a July 14 docket entry on Carroll’s case, shows the funds were transferred from the court’s registry investment system on July 9. Both parties had previously agreed that Trump could deposit the jury award with the court’s registry investment system — known as Cris, a court-administered escrow — while he pursued appeals. Under that agreement, the money was to be released upon the occurrence of certain legal developments, including the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case.
The Supreme Court on June 29 denied Trump’s petition to review the 2023 verdict. Carroll’s legal team then promptly asked Judge Kaplan to release the funds. Trump’s lawyers requested additional time to respond, which the judge denied.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and his attorneys insisted that the money should remain in Cris because Trump was asking the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision.
In a statement, Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s lead attorney, said: “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.”
The 2023 trial jury awarded Carroll $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages after finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation. Carroll had alleged that Trump sexually assaulted her in the fitting room of a luxury New York department store. The case stemmed from a 2019 New York magazine feature that excerpted Carroll’s book, “What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal.”
A separate jury in a 2024 trial awarded Carroll $83.3 million for defamatory comments Trump made while president. That award remains in escrow as Trump continues to appeal. The two verdicts are the result of separate trials but arise from the same underlying allegation.
Trump has consistently denied Carroll’s allegations and has pursued multiple unsuccessful appeals to block the payments. The release of the $5.6 million does not affect the separate $83.3 million defamation award, which continues to be litigated.