Trump agrees to end court fight against $5m verdict in E Jean Carroll case

Donald Trump has dropped his appeal over the $5 million jury award E. Jean Carroll won in 2023, when a civil jury found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation. The Second Circuit disclosed the dismissal on Tuesday. It makes no practical difference to Carroll, since she already has the money, but it ends Trump's opposition to that part of the judgment. Under the stipulation, the appeal is dismissed with prejudice and his motion for a stay is withdrawn, according to The Guardian.

The outcome follows a series of Trump losses. The Supreme Court declined on June 29 to take up his challenge, and Judge Lewis Kaplan of federal court in Manhattan then ordered the funds paid out on July 8. Within an hour of the Supreme Court's action, Trump had asked the Second Circuit to pause that step, but the appeals court refused. The funds, which had sat in a court-administered account during the appeal and had grown to $5. 8 million with interest, went to Carroll on July 9, according to court records dated July 14. In August, the justices also turned down his request for a rehearing.

Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor who founded West Coast Trial Lawyers, called the move "a final nail in the coffin" and said Trump has no way to pursue Carroll over this money. Trump is still asking the Supreme Court to void a separate $83 million award for defaming Carroll, from her January 2024 trial.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Guardian’s reporting. Read the full story at The Guardian →