U.S. court orders Trump to pay $5.8 million to E. Jean Carroll for sexual abuse and defamation
A federal judge in Manhattan has ordered Donald Trump to pay approximately $5.8 million to writer E. Jean Carroll, after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal in the civil case.
U.S. court orders Trump to pay $5.8 million to E. Jean Carroll for sexual abuse and defamation
A federal judge in Manhattan has ordered former U.S. President Donald Trump to pay roughly $5.8 million to writer E. Jean Carroll, finalizing the financial penalty in a civil case that a jury decided in 2023. The amount covers the original $5 million in damages awarded by jurors, plus accumulated interest.
The case stems from allegations Carroll first brought nearly seven years ago. She accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a Manhattan department store around 1996. In 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation of Carroll, though it did not find him guilty of rape. The jurors awarded her $5 million in damages.
Regional Judge Lewis Kaplan issued the order for payment after the U.S. Supreme Court declined on June 29 to review Trump's appeal against the verdict. The funds had remained in a trust account while the appeal process was underway.
On Tuesday evening, Trump's attorneys had asked the court not to release the money. They argued that Carroll should wait for the Supreme Court to consider a new petition the former president had filed. His legal team claimed that if Carroll collected the damages and the verdict were later overturned, the money could not be recovered, causing "irreparable harm." They also contended that immediate payment could damage public confidence in the justice system if the Supreme Court eventually agreed to review the case.
Despite these arguments, the judge proceeded with the order. On the same day, Trump filed a new request with the Supreme Court asking it to reconsider the matter, even though the high court rarely revisits cases it has already declined to hear.
Carroll, now 82, sued Trump under a New York state law that allowed adult survivors of sexual assault to file civil claims even after the statute of limitations had expired. Trump has repeatedly denied her allegations, calling them a "hoax" and claiming he never met her. He has also suggested her lawsuit was designed to promote her memoir.
In a separate defamation case decided in 2024, another jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million over disparaging remarks Trump made about her in 2019 while he was in the White House. Trump has argued he is protected by presidential immunity in that matter, but the Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected that claim last September.
Neither Trump's nor Carroll's lawyers offered immediate public comment following the latest ruling.
Source: Capital.gr
Source: Google News GR — Crime (el)