After years of bitter litigation, a Manhattan federal court judge has ruled that the $5 million Donald Trump paid to the court after a jury found him liable for sexual abuse be released to E Jean Carroll.
Trump and his legal team have tried every possible avenue to block this payment, but their appeals have been blocked by multiple courts, and the Supreme Court recently refused to hear the case. However, Trump’s legal team has tried one last roll of the dice with a last-minute appeal.
The Guardian quotes Bryan Sullivan, a partner with Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae, as saying he thinks Trump is out of legal road when it comes to a further successful appeal: “I think that would be a really tough argument. I think Roberta Kaplan said it best: he’s at the end of the line here.”
“He lost, and now she gets it with interest.”
They also quote Alphonse Provinziano, managing partner of Beverly Hills firm Provinziano & Associates, who said:
“Think of the money as sitting in a lockbox at the courthouse. Trump put roughly $5.5m into a court-controlled account back in 2023 so he could appeal without paying Carroll first. That is standard practice under federal rule. The deal was simple: if he wins on appeal, he gets it back. If he loses, she gets paid. … He lost, and now she gets it with interest. While there may be stalls, this is purely procedural.”
Trump’s lawyers’ argument against awarding her the money is that there are still theoretically appeals for them to pursue, but that once she has the money, the president will have suffered an “unrecoverable loss”.
That argument stems from Carroll’s plans to give away any money she receives from Trump soon after receiving it. She has stated her priorities are to donate the money to support women’s reproductive rights, campaigns to support voting rights, and to support survivors of sexual assault.
Trump’s team argues that she “has repeatedly stated that she intends to give away all funds that she collects from him, and once those funds are distributed to third parties, they likely cannot be recovered”.
But, even if Carroll gets her $5m payout, this is by no means the end of the legal saga. There is also a substantially larger $88.3 million award after a jury found Trump liable for defaming Carroll. This payment has already been upheld, but once again, Trump’s lawyers are applying to the Supreme Court in an effort to overturn the payout.
Carroll underlines that she is happy with her “simple life”, doesn’t need millions of dollars, and plans to get revenge on Trump by how she spends the money: “My mission is to make him so angry and so mad by taking this $83.3 million and giving it to things that Trump hates.”
Trump continues to dismiss Carroll’s claims as “hoaxes” and “lawfare.”
