Judge orders release of the $5.8 million payment that Trump owed E. Jean Carroll

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that E. Jean Carroll can receive the $5.8 million awarded to her after a 2023 jury found that President Donald Trump sexually abused her in 1996 and later defamed her when he denied her allegations. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan directed the release of the money from a court escrow account, along with the interest that has accrued since the verdict, after the Supreme Court refused last week to hear the president’s appeal of the award. The move came after Trump’s attorneys sought to delay the payment for what would have been at least several more months. Trump’s attorneys had asked the judge to give them more time before releasing the money while they ask the high court to reconsider its decision. Asked about Kaplan’s order, a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said in a statement, “The American people stand with President Trump as they demand an immediate end to all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes.” Lawyers for Carroll said their client, whom Trump was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming, had already waited long enough. The case arose from a 2022 suit Carroll filed in New York alleging that Trump sexually assaulted her in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store after a chance encounter in 1996. The defamation claims stemmed from comments he made about her after his first term in office, including calling her claims as a “con job” and “hoax.” He maintains he does not know Carroll and didn’t commit any wrongdoing.