Attorneys for President Donald Trump asked a New York federal judge late Tuesday to withhold nearly $5.8 million from writer E. Jean Carroll.
Trump’s lawyers argued that Carroll should not be allowed to collect the damages awarded in her civil case while the U.S. Supreme Court considers Trump’s renewed appeal of the May 2023 verdict that found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation. They said enforcement of the judgment should be paused until the rehearing petition is resolved.
They contended that a prior agreement governing the $5.5 million Trump deposited as security during the appeal bars collection until the Supreme Court resolves the rehearing request.
Trump’s attorneys argued that E. Jean Carroll plans to donate any money she receives from him, making the funds difficult or impossible to recover if his appeal ultimately succeeds.
In a separate petition, Trump also asked the Supreme Court to rehear the case, saying he will soon seek the court’s review of whether he has presidential immunity from another lawsuit Carroll filed over statements he made while in office.
Trump’s lawyers argued that if he is granted immunity in that case, it could also undermine the separate $5 million verdict because Carroll’s legal team introduced the same statements as evidence during that trial, along with remarks Trump made in 2022 after leaving the White House.
Trump Vows To Keep Fighting
Last week, Trump suffered a major setback in the Supreme Court, which declined to hear his appeal of the judgment in the case, leaving the jury’s finding of sexual abuse and defamation intact.
Trump responded by calling the lawsuit a “fake case” and vowed to continue fighting it.
Carroll welcomed the ruling, calling it "a win for every woman in the world," after the Supreme Court let the sex abuse verdict against Trump stand.
In May, the Justice Department reportedly launched a criminal investigation into Carroll over whether she gave false sworn testimony about third-party financial support for her civil lawsuits against Trump.
Prosecutors are examining her 2022 deposition, in which she said no outside parties were funding the cases, despite later disclosures that billionaire Reid Hoffman helped cover some legal fees through a nonprofit. Trump’s former attorney, Alina Habba, has alleged Carroll’s legal team concealed the arrangement.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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