News summary produced by Claude AI
E. Jean Carroll, a former advice columnist, has received payment of more than $5.6 million representing a jury award plus interest in a civil case against President Donald Trump. The funds were released from an escrow account where they had been held since a 2023 verdict, with the payment completed on a Monday in mid-July. Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, confirmed receipt of the damages in a statement.
The jury determined that Trump engaged in sexual abuse and made defamatory statements regarding Carroll. The allegations stem from an incident Carroll described as occurring in 1996 in a New York department store dressing room, and subsequent statements Trump made in 2019 after Carroll published an account in her memoir. Trump has consistently denied the allegations, characterizing them as false and suggesting Carroll had ulterior motives.
The U.S. Supreme Court previously allowed the civil verdict to stand, which prompted the judge to authorize release of the funds. Trump’s legal team sought an emergency order to block the payment but was denied. Carroll’s attorneys have indicated the funds will be placed in a retirement account. Trump’s legal representatives continue pursuing additional appeals in an effort to stop or reverse the payment.
Separately, Carroll is also entitled to $83 million in defamation damages awarded by a different Manhattan jury following a 2024 trial. Trump is appealing that judgment as well. The case emerged after New York modified its laws to permit sexual abuse survivors to pursue legal action for incidents that occurred many years earlier.