Writer E. Jean Carroll has received more than $5.6 million in court-awarded damages in a sexual abuse and defamation case against US President Donald Trump. The payment, which includes the original $5 million jury award plus accrued interest, was released on Monday (July 13) from a court-supervised escrow account.
In a statement, Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, confirmed that her client had received the full amount in accordance with the court’s order.
Responding after the payment, the 82-year-old Carroll posted the phrase “The Eagle Has Landed” on social media, signaling what she described as the successful conclusion of a lengthy legal battle.
Court records show that the funds had remained in escrow since the 2023 jury verdict. The money was released after the US Supreme Court allowed the judgment to stand, prompting Federal Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to authorize the disbursement.
Trump’s legal team had sought to delay the release of the funds, but the court rejected the request. His attorneys said they would continue pursuing an appeal in an effort to overturn the verdict.
Carroll’s lawyers told the court that she intends to place the compensation into a retirement savings fund.
The case stems from Carroll’s allegation that Trump sexually assaulted her in a dressing room at a luxury department store in New York in 1996. She publicly disclosed the allegation in her 2019 memoir. Trump, then serving as US president, denied the accusation and called Carroll a liar, prompting her to file a defamation lawsuit.
Changes to New York state law later enabled survivors to file civil lawsuits over decades-old sexual assault allegations, allowing Carroll to pursue her claim. Trump did not testify during the trial.
In a separate defamation case in 2024, Carroll was awarded $83 million in damages. Trump’s legal team is also appealing that judgment.
Source: Associated Press (AP)