President Donald Trump's legal team is making a last-minute effort to prevent the release of nearly $5.8 million awarded to writer E. Jean Carroll, arguing that the payment should remain on hold while the president continues pursuing relief before the U.S. Supreme Court.
In court filings submitted Tuesday, Trump's attorneys asked U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan to reject Carroll's request to disburse the funds currently being held in escrow. The attorneys argued that Trump's legal options have not yet been exhausted because, they contend, a timely petition for rehearing remains pending before the nation's highest court.
“Collection cannot begin while proceedings remain pending before the Supreme Court, which is currently the case,” attorneys Josh Halpern and Michael Madaio wrote in filings submitted in federal court in Manhattan.
The latest legal maneuver comes more than two years after a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation in Carroll's first civil lawsuit against him. The case centered on Carroll's allegation that Trump assaulted her in a luxury department store dressing room during the mid-1990s.
The jury also concluded that Trump defamed Carroll after she publicly accused him during his first term in office. Throughout the litigation, Trump has consistently denied Carroll's allegations, maintaining that she fabricated the claims and insisting that the two had never met.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Trump's appeal, leaving the 2023 jury verdict in place. The decision marked another setback in the president's effort to overturn the judgment.
Following the Supreme Court's action, Trump criticized the outcome in a post on Truth Social.
“Surprisingly, the Supreme Court declined to ‘review’ a Fake Case brought against me by a woman I never met (Decades old celebrity photo line, standing with her husband, does not count!),” Trump wrote in late June.
“I will continue the fight against this Weaponization and Lawfare Case against me, including the ridiculous claim of Defamation, with all of my power and strength,” he added.
Despite the Supreme Court's decision not to hear the appeal, Trump's attorneys contend that the legal process has not yet concluded. They argue that because a petition for rehearing remains pending, the funds should not be released.
However, court records indicate that the rehearing petition had not been accepted for filing earlier this week.
Trump's legal team also warned that releasing the money now could cause irreversible harm if the judgment is later overturned. According to the filing, Carroll has publicly stated that she intends to donate any money she receives from her civil defamation lawsuits against Trump.
“Plaintiff has repeatedly stated that she intends to give away all funds that she collects from him, and once those funds are distributed to third parties, they likely cannot be recovered,” attorneys Halpern and Madaio argued.
Carroll's attorneys have pushed for the escrowed funds to be released without further delay, asserting that Trump's latest filing is another attempt to postpone payment after years of litigation.
In a June 30 court filing, Carroll's legal team argued that the case has already worked its way through every level of the federal court system and that additional delays are unwarranted.
“This is the end of the line,” Carroll's attorneys wrote. “After four years of litigation across every level of the federal court system, it is time for this case to end.”
Judge Kaplan has now been asked to decide whether the money should remain in escrow while Trump's legal team continues its efforts before the Supreme Court or whether the judgment should be released to Carroll following the high court's decision to leave the jury's verdict intact.
