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Published 16:12 15 Jul 2026 GMT
E. Jean Carroll has received over $5.6 million in damages from Donald Trump, concluding a years-long legal conflict that followed a 2023 civil trial.
The electronic transfer occurred after a federal judge ordered the immediate release of the funds, which had been held in a court-controlled escrow account.
The original judgment of $5 million grew to $5.62 million because of accumulated interest while Trump pursued multiple legal appeals.
A unanimous nine-person Manhattan jury had previously found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in a department store dressing room in the 1990s, as well as defaming her when she publicly spoke out. After the US Supreme Court declined to hear the case, the federal court ordered the release of the funds.
Following the transfer of the funds, the 82-year-old author celebrated the payout on her Substack blog. In her post, she thanked her legal team and directed a sarcastic message toward Trump's defense attorney, Alina Habba.
Carroll wrote, The Eagle Has Landed, before expressing gratitude to the legal team that guided her case to completion. She then added a highly publicized jab at Trump's defense, writing: "And... a special, special thanks to Alina Habba Esq.! I could not have done it without you."
Carroll's lead attorney, Roberta Kaplan, confirmed the successful transfer of the funds. In a statement to Axios, she noted: “Three years ago, a unanimous nine-person jury found President Trump liable for sexually assaulting and defaming E. Jean Carroll," and added, ”Today, we are pleased to report that she has received the damages payment the jury awarded her as a result of that verdict."
While this specific payment represents the conclusion of the 2023 civil suit, Trump is still contesting other legal decisions. This includes an appeal of a separate, massive $83 million defamation judgment awarded to Carroll. Carroll's legal team has confirmed to the appeals court that she plans to place the newly received $5.6 million into an interest-bearing retirement account.
Beyond his civil disputes, Trump has faced several other high-profile legal cases. A federal criminal case was previously brought against him regarding his actions surrounding the 2020 presidential election and the January 6 Capitol attack. Trump pleaded not guilty, and a judge dismissed those charges in 2024.
Additionally, Trump was found guilty on 34 counts of fraud in New York related to hush money payments made to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.
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Published 19:35 09 May 2023 GMT
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Published 11:12 27 Jan 2024 GMT
E. Jean Carroll has spoken out after a jury ordered Donald Trump to pay her $83.3 million in the defamation suit.
Back in 2019, Carroll - a longtime advice columnist - penned a story in New York magazine accusing the 45th President of the United States of sexually assaulting her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s.
Trump - who was the president at the time - immediately denied the allegations, calling the 80-year-old journalist a "whack job" and alleging that he had never met her, as reported by CBS News.
Following Carroll's publication, the 77-year-old continuously repeatedly attacked and defamed her in social media posts, public appearances, and even in court.
The former Elle magazine writer filed two defamation lawsuits over the statements Trump made about her in 2019 and 2022, contending that his disparagements fuelled abusive messages, online vitriol, and death threats against her.
In the first trial, which went underway in May 2023, a jury found Trump liable for defamation and sexual abuse and awarded Carroll $5 million.
The second trial was then set up for the jury to determine how much compensation was meant to account for the harm they found his comments had done to her reputation and emotional well-being.
After a contentious two-week civil trial in a federal courtroom in Manhattan, on Friday (January 26), the nine-member jury ordered the ex-president to pay the writer a staggering $18.3 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in punitive damages.
The compensatory amount included $11 million for repairing her reputation and $7.3 million for the emotional distress she has endured - with Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, remarking that the money should be enough to "make him stop" defaming her client.
Trump abruptly stormed out of the courtroom during closing arguments with his Secret Service security detail so he was not present to hear the verdict. His departure came moments after Judge Kaplan (no relation to Carroll's lawyer) threatened to jail Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba, for continuing to speak after he had told her to be quiet, as reported by BBC.
Following the jury's decision on Friday, Carroll shared a powerful statement that read: "This is a great victory for every woman who stands up when she's been knocked down, and a huge defeat for every bully who has tried to keep a woman down."
Her attorney also spoke out about the ruling, sharing: "Today’s verdict proves that the law applies to everyone in our country, even the rich, even the famous, even former presidents.
"There is a way to stand up to someone like Donald Trump, who cares more about wealth, fame, and power than respecting the law," Roberta Kaplan continued. "Standing up to a bully takes courage and bravery; it takes someone like E. Jean Carroll. We thank the jury for standing up for E. Jean and the rule of law."
The former leader repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, or even that he had ever met Ms Carroll, including on Friday morning. But following the verdict he abstained from slamming her directly when he denounced the defamation trial's outcome in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social.
"I fully disagree with both verdicts and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party," he wrote, according to the outlet. "Our Legal System is out of control, and being used as a Political Weapon. They have taken away all First Amendment Rights. THIS IS NOT AMERICA!"
Published 16:23 29 Jun 2026 GMT
The US Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal from President Donald Trump to have his sexual assault and defamation ruling reviewed.
A New York court found in favor of E. Jean Carroll in 2023, awarding the former journalist $5m in damages.
She claimed that Trump sexually assaulted her in the 1990s and then subsequently claimed that the case was a hoax on social media.
The president has always denied the allegations against him and has made claims about the judge who presided over the civil suit.
He claims that the New York judge allowed evidence to be admitted that affected the jury’s perception of him.
However, a federal appeals court also found against Trump last year, meaning that no new trial would be needed.
That’s when Trump got the Supreme Court involved, but now that has also gone against him.
In accordance with usual procedure, no further information was given about why the court didn’t take up the case.
This does mean that Trump has now exhausted all avenues available to him to appeal this ruling, meaning that he will now have to pay Carroll the money.
In a statement, Carroll’s lawyer Roberta Kaplan said that the decision ‘affirms once and for all the jury's unanimous verdict that President Donald J Trump sexually assaulted and defamed E Jean Carroll’.
She added: "His multiple efforts to appeal that verdict have all failed and today's ruling ends his quest to avoid accountability for his actions.”
Before today, Carroll’s camp had not commented on Trump’s decision to continue appealing the case to the very top level.
A spokesperson for Donald Trump’s legal team hit back with a statement of their own.
They said: "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,
"President Trump will keep winning against Liberal Lawfare, as he continues to focus on his mission to Make America Great Again."
Trump’s lawyers had argued that the infamous 2005 Access Hollywood tape of Trump in which he made claims that he had kissed and groped women should not have been allowed to be shown to jurors.
The comments made by Trump after the ruling also led to another case of defamation, for which he was ordered to pay $83m.
His appeal against that ruling was dismissed in September.
The court, while upholding Carroll’s claim that Trump sexually assaulted and defamed her, rejected her claims that she was raped based upon the definition in New York’s penal code.
The jury found that Trump, 80, attacked Carroll, now 81, in the dressing room of a department store in New York in the mid-1990s.
After that claim was brought, Trump then made posts on his own Truth Social platform claiming that she had lied about the claims and that Carroll was ‘not [his] type’.
Those comments subsequently led to the defamation case.
Published 13:57 03 Feb 2024 GMT
Attorney Roberta Kaplan - who represented E. Jean Carroll in her defamatory case against Donald Trump - has made further allegations about the former president following her victory in the courtroom.
Back in 2019, Carroll - a longtime advice columnist - penned a story in New York Magazine accusing the former POTUS of sexually assaulting her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. Trump - who was in the Oval Office at the time of the publication - immediately denied the allegations, calling the 80-year-old journalist a "whack job" and alleging that he had never met her, as reported by CBS News.
Following Carroll's claims, the 77-year-old continuously repeatedly attacked and defamed her in social media posts, public appearances, and even in court. However, courts have since sided with Carroll.
In the first trial, which went underway in May 2023, a jury found Trump liable for defamation and sexual abuse and awarded Carroll $5 million. The second trial was then set up for the jury to determine how much compensation was meant to account for the harm they found his comments had done to her reputation and emotional well-being.
After a contentious two-week civil trial in a federal courtroom in Manhattan last month, the nine-member jury ordered the ex-president to pay the writer a staggering $18.3 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in punitive damages.
However, the controversy has not ended there.
Now, Kaplan has claimed that Trump threw documents across a table and abruptly left the room during a legal deposition at Mar-a-Lago.
She claims that the dispute arose after Kaplan rejected Trump's request to work through a lunch break and informed the former POTUS that lunch was being provided her her.
Kaplan shared the details of the alleged encounter on the George Conway Explains it All (to Sarah Longwell) podcast. She recounted the moment when Trump, visibly frustrated, asked how they would manage lunch arrangements during the deposition at Mar-a-Lago.
"And then you could kind of see the wheel spinning in his brain. You could really almost see it," Kaplan told Longwell and Conway. "And he said, ‘Well, you’re here in Mar-a-Lago. What do you think you’re going to do for lunch? Where are you going to get lunch?’"
Kaplan then says she told Trump that his attorneys had "graciously offered to provide" her team with lunch — which is a common civil practice between opposing legal teams.
"At which point there was a huge pile of documents, exhibits, sitting in front of him, and he took the pile and he just threw it across the table. And stormed out of the room,” Kaplan shared, adding that Trump specifically yelled at his lawyer Alina Habba for providing them lunch.
"He really yelled at Alina for that. He was so mad at Alina," Kaplan claimed.
Kaplan also says she rejected the former president’s request to work through a lunch break because he believed the deposition to be a waste of time.
The incident occurred in the midst of a lawsuit alleging Trump's involvement with a fraudulent marketing company, per CNN. While the legal battle reached a resolution last month - with a federal judge dismissing the suit - the deposition's lunchtime dispute has since garnered attention following Kaplan's podcast appearance.
In addition to the lunchtime incident, Kaplan revealed another moment from the deposition's conclusion. As she announced the end of her questioning, Trump made an obscure comment, saying, "See you next Tuesday." The phrase is commonly used as a derogatory coded euphemism... and Kaplan initially found it puzzling, as their next meeting was scheduled for a Wednesday.
"We come in the room and I say, ‘I’m done asking questions’ and immediately I hear from the other side, ‘Off the record. Off the record. Off the record.’ So they must have planned it," Kaplan told the hosts. "And [Trump] looks at me from across the table and he says, ‘See you next Tuesday.'"
Kaplan's colleagues later explained the intended meaning behind Trump's comment, and she admitted that had she been aware of it at the time, her reaction might have been different.
"I wasn’t in on the joke, so I had no idea," she explained. "Then we get into the car and my colleagues are like, ‘Robbie, do you know what that means?’ And I’m like, ‘No, what are you talking about?’ They tell me and I’m like, oh my God, thank God I didn’t know because had I known, I for sure would have gotten angry. "
CNN reported that it had sought comments from representatives for both Trump and Alina Habba regarding the deposition and subsequent revelations.
Reflecting on what her recent victories have meant for her career, Kaplan described last month's verdict as a defining moment.
When asked which victory felt more significant – winning the defamation case against Trump or successfully challenging the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013, ultimately leading to the Supreme Court's decision in favor of same-sex marriage – Kaplan pointed to her recent triumph.
"I spent my whole life devoted to the principle that we have a rule of law and we have a judicial system that works," Kaplan said. "And that’s what makes us a constitutional democracy, that’s — at least until recently — was to be admired worldwide. And it was starting, I mean, it is in times looking like that may not be true.
"This case validated that at least as of now, we still have all that."
Following a two-week trial, a New York jury in federal court has determined that Donald Trump did sexually abuse E Jean Carroll.
The verdict stems from an incident that occurred nearly 30 years in a Manhattan department store.
The former US president did not appear in court to testify, but has repeatedly denied the accusation that was made against him.
The jury was made up of nine individuals, with US District Judge Lewis Kaplan telling them prior to their verdict on Tuesday: "I know you're going to do your duty under your oath to render a just and true verdict."
Despite the statute of limitations running out on the case, the state of New York recently enacted a law that allows for decades-old sexual assault claims to be filed as civil lawsuits, per BBC News.
After determining that Trump sexually abused Carroll, she was awarded $2 million in damages.
The jury also found that Trump defamed Carroll, after he previously described her accusations as a "con job" in a social media post in October of 2022. For this, Carroll was also awarded a further $3 million in damages (which is made of of $2.7 million in compensatory damaged and a further $280,000 of which are punitive).
Another $20,000 was awarded to Carroll in punitive damages against Trump over a claim of battery.
The jurors, however, disagreed with Carroll's allegation that the former POTUS raped her.
Trump, 76, has since branded the verdict a "disgrace", writing in a post for his TRUTH social media platform: "I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS. THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE - A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!"
Carroll, 78, a long-time columnist for Elle magazine, first publicly made the causation against Trump in a book in 2019.
In her lawsuit against the former president, Carroll's legal team wrote: "Trump’s underlying sexual assault severely injured Carroll, causing significant pain and suffering, lasting psychological harms, loss of dignity, and invasion of her privacy," whilst adding: "His recent defamatory statement has only added to the harm that Carroll had already suffered."]
But following the filing of the lawsuit, Trump's attorney, Alina Habba, attempted to dismiss Carroll's claims, stating: "While I respect and admire individuals that come forward, this case is, unfortunately, an abuse of the purpose of this Act which creates a terrible precedent and runs the risk of delegitimizing the credibility of actual victims."
In a previous interview with CNN, Carroll said that Trump "just went at it", allegedly cornering her in a dressing room at the luxury department store, adding that "he pulled down my tights, and it was a fight. I want women to know that I did not stand there, I did not freeze, I was not paralyzed, which is a reaction could have had because it's so shocking. No, I fought."
She told the New York court during the trial: "As I'm sitting here today I can still feel it."
Published 17:08 25 Nov 2022 GMT
A writer and journalist who previously accused Donald Trump of rape has filed a new lawsuit against the former president.
E. Jean Carroll, 78, a long-time columnist for Elle magazine, alleges that the former POTUS raped her in a Manhattan department store in 1995 or 1996, as reported by NBC News. The writer first made the claim in a book in 2019.
The Independent adds that Trump, now 76, has long denied any of Carroll's claims made against him.
The new lawsuit comes moments after a new state law came into effect allowing victims of sexual violence and assault to sue over historic attacks that happened decades ago, per NBC.
Caroll was barred by state law from suing Trump over the alleged rape claims, as too many years had passed since the events were alleged to take place.
The new law will open a window for victims of sexual assault to have a "second chance" to seek legal action against their alleged attackers if they missed the statute of limitations. The new window will be open for the duration of one year from Thursday (November 24), after which, the old dates will be reinstated.
Caroll's new claims accuse Trump of committing battery "when he forcibly raped and groped her", as reported by the Guardian.
The lawsuit alleges: "Trump’s underlying sexual assault severely injured Carroll, causing significant pain and suffering, lasting psychological harms, loss of dignity, and invasion of her privacy," whilst adding: "His recent defamatory statement has only added to the harm that Carroll had already suffered."
Ms Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, alleges that the lawsuit is intended to hold Trump accountable for the alleged assault, as per BBC News.
As cited by NBC, Trump's attorney Alina Habba stated: "While I respect and admire individuals that come forward, this case is, unfortunately, an abuse of the purpose of this Act which creates a terrible precedent and runs the risk of delegitimizing the credibility of actual victims."
When Carroll first made the allegations against Trump back in 2019, the then-president responded by saying the writer was "not [his] type".
Those comments led to Carroll filing a defamation lawsuit against Trump - one which has been tied up in appeals courts as judges struggle to determine whether or not the former POTUS is protected from legal claims for comments made while in office.
Hundreds of new lawsuits are expected as a result of the new law, with claims already being bought against banks JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank by lawyers acting for unnamed individuals, who accuse the banks of turning a blind eye against alleged sex trafficking by the late Jeffrey Epstein, per the Guardian.
The new law intends to offer new opportunities to victims who didn't speak out previously through trauma and fear.