(CNN) — More than $5 million was transferred to E. Jean Carroll, a significant move in a protracted legal battle with President Donald Trump coming three years after a jury found he had sexually abused and defamed the former magazine writer.
The disbursement of $5,625,005.48 – the damages award plus interest – was ordered by Judge Lewis Kaplan after the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s request to hear the case. Trump tried to stop the payment by arguing it should not go through until the Supreme Court decides whether to rehear his petition, a long-shot gambit that is rarely successful. The Supreme Court has not responded.
The transfer to Carroll’s attorneys was confirmed on the court docket Tuesday.
Carroll’s lawyers said in a court filing that she would use the money to fund her retirement and will “place the award in an interest-bearing account until Defendant’s petition for rehearing is denied.”
Trump’s attorneys are continuing to fight. On Friday, Trump’s lawyers asked a federal appeals court to intervene and stay, or stop the transfer, until the Supreme Court decides whether to reconsider. His lawyers asked the appeals court to issue an injunction if the funds were disbursed and order the transfer of funds back to the court-controlled account while the appeal plays out.
The federal appeals court, which denied a request for an emergency stay, has not addressed the latest effort.
Carroll, who is 82, is expected to get the full amount. Her lawyers, who are paid on a contingency basis, will not take legal fees from the award.
“Three years ago, a unanimous nine-person jury found President Trump liable for sexually assaulting and defaming E. Jean Carroll,” Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan said in a statement. “Today, we are pleased to report that she has received the damages payment the jury awarded her as a result of that verdict.”
Carroll was not the first woman to accuse Trump of sexual abuse, but she took her civil lawsuit to trial and testified in open court in detail about Trump sexually abusing her in a New York department store in the mid 1990s. Trump did not attend the first trial but in public he forcefully denied assaulting Carroll. The jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation for statements he made denying her allegations of sexual assault, saying she wasn’t his type, and suggesting she made it up to sell copies of her book. The jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages.
During a CNN town hall the day after the verdict Trump called Carroll a “whack job” and called her allegations a “fake story.” Carroll, who had already sued Trump over similar statements he made in 2019, asked to amend her lawsuit to include the additional statements.
Trump attended the second trial and faced off with Carroll, who testified again. He briefly took the witness stand.
The jury found Trump’s 2019 statements were defamatory and awarded Carroll $83 million in damages. Trump said he will file a petition with the Supreme Court to ask them to consider his arguments related to presidential immunity. The brief is due at the end of the month.
The-CNN-Wire
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