A federal judge on Wednesday ordered that writer E. Jean Carroll be paid $5 million plus interest in damages stemming from a judgment in one of her two civil cases against President Donald Trump.
Trump had made a last-ditch effort late Tuesday to stop Carroll from collecting the money. In a brief requesting that the disbursement of the damages be halted, the president’s lawyers argued that because his request for the Supreme Court to reconsider its refusal to hear his appeal is pending, there is no final denial from the justices on the matter of his appeal, and so the distribution of those funds to Carroll is not justified.
Trump’s legal team swiftly appealed the judge’s ruling Wednesday. They also filed a motion seeking an emergency administrative stay to block the release of the judgment funds in the case, arguing the money could be impossible to recoup if it is distributed before his appeal is resolved.
In the filing Wednesday, Trump’s attorneys said the need for a stay is “acute” because the district court has ordered the funds disbursed and that order “may be executed at any time.” The president’s legal team argued that Carroll has publicly said she plans to donate any money she collects from Trump and has reportedly created a foundation to distribute the funds. Once the money leaves the court registry and is distributed to third parties, the attorneys wrote, it “likely will not be recoverable,” potentially rendering any future appellate relief ineffective.
In response to Trump’s latest filing, Carroll’s lawyers filed an opposition to the stay motion, accusing Trump of having “dragged out the proceedings, filed meritless appeals, and, in the words of the district court, ‘slow-rolled his defenses, asserting or inventing a new one each time his prior effort to delay the case
fails.’”
So far, Trump has appealed seven times in this court case and sought five stays from the court. There is no indication in their brief that Carroll has received the money yet.
“Carroll has waited more than three years for a jury’s verdict to be paid. She should not have to wait any longer,” her legal team wrote at the end of their opposition.
Trump’s petition for rehearing from the Supreme Court was “not accepted for filing” on Tuesday, but a corrected petition was filed on the public docket Wednesday morning.
Trump’s petition to the Supreme Court also attempts to tether Carroll’s civil case in which she was awarded $5 million in damages — which concerns statements made by Trump in 2022, when he was not president — to the not-yet-filed petition for certiorari in the much larger case, which centers on Trump’s initial denial in 2019 that he assaulted, much less knew, Carroll.
That petition is due on or before July 28. In that case, Carroll was awarded $83 million in damages after a jury found that Trump defamed her.
The petition for reconsideration reflects Trump’s effort to have the Supreme Court consider both Carroll verdicts together. If the court were to grant certiorari in both Carroll cases and consolidate them for its review, that could be advantageous to Trump as the jury in the second-tried case did not decide his liability. Instead, jurors were instructed, based on the first verdict, that the issue of whether Trump had defamed Carroll was already decided and that the only issue for their resolution was whether she suffered damages — and, if so, in what amount.
Both Carroll trials occurred before the Supreme Court ruled on the scope of presidential immunity in July 2024.
The Supreme Court had declined to review Trump’s appeal in the case concerning the $5 million judgment awarded to Carroll last week. She has subsequently moved to collect the payment. Her lawyers said in a court filing afterward that “after four years of litigation across every level of the federal court system, it is time for this case to end.”
Ebony Davis contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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