E. Jean Carroll Receives $5.6 Million in Awarded Damages from Donald Trump
In a significant legal development, writer E. Jean Carroll has secured over $5.6 million in damages awarded by a jury in her lawsuit against former President Donald Trump. This sum includes the $5 million jury award plus accrued interest, as court documents and Carroll’s attorneys have confirmed.
Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, shared in a statement, “We are pleased to report that she has received the damages payment.” The funds were held in escrow since the 2023 verdict and were released following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the civil verdict, which allowed Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to authorize the payment.
Despite the jury’s ruling, Trump’s legal team has expressed their intention to continue appealing the case. After the jury’s decision, Trump promptly deposited the money into an escrow account. His attorneys attempted, unsuccessfully, to secure an emergency order to prevent the payment. The denial of this order imposed no restrictions on Carroll’s use of the funds, which her lawyers indicated would be placed in a retirement account.
The case originates from an incident in 1996, where the jury found Trump had assaulted Carroll in a New York department store dressing room and later defamed her in response to her public account of the event in a 2019 memoir. Trump has consistently denied the allegations, asserting that “nothing sexual happened” between them and referring to Carroll as “totally lying” and “not my type” in a 2019 interview.
Trump did not attend the trial, during which Carroll described the encounter as initially friendly before turning violent. Her lawsuit was made possible after New York amended its laws, allowing survivors of sexual abuse to pursue legal action for historical incidents.
Beyond this case, Trump is also appealing an $83 million defamation award granted to Carroll by a different jury in a separate 2024 trial, where he briefly testified. The ongoing legal battles reflect the complex and evolving nature of the allegations and decisions involved.
While the Associated Press typically does not name individuals alleging sexual abuse, Carroll has consented to the use of her name in this context.
