A federal judge has denied President Donald Trump’s last-ditch effort to delay a $5.8 million payout to E. Jean Carroll years after she won a civil defamation case against him related to sex-abuse allegations.
Trump has been trying to toss the 2022 verdict for years after a jury found him liable for sexual abuse against Carroll, a former Elle magazine writer. The president, who has consistently denied Carroll’s allegations and accused her of lying, was also found liable for defaming the writer in a separate case.
Lawyers for Trump argued the $5 million verdict in the sex-abuse and defamation case was unfairly brought and an attempt to hurt the president – despite the verdict occurring before Trump returned to the White House. An appeals court had already rejected the president’s argument, and the Supreme Court delivered the final blow this week by declining to review the case.
In a July 3 filing, Trump’s attorneys requested a delay in delivering payment to Carroll, arguing that his new lead counsel, Josh Halper, required more time “to become completely familiar with the facts and procedural circumstances” of the case. His former lead attorney, Justin Smith, left the case last month after taking up a position as a federal judge.
District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan denied the motion in a text-only order dated July 4, without further explanation.
Before the judge’s decision, Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, accused Trump of stalling “to buy time so he can try to concoct some new basis to put off paying” in a court filing.
Trump’s legal team had requested the court grant an extension of July 14 to respond to Carroll’s lawyers, arguing that the plaintiff “faces no risk of material harm as a result of granting this request.”
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling, Trump vowed he would not give up his attempts to throw out the case.
“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 on Truth Social Monday, once again elevating his claims of not knowing Carroll, despite being photographed with her.
Following the Supreme Court’s rejection Monday, Trump’s legal team said: “The American People stand with President Trump as they demand an immediate end to all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes. President Trump will keep winning against Liberal Lawfare, as he continues to focus on his mission to Make America Great Again.”
“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.”
Kaplan said the Supreme Court’s ruling backed the verdict.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision affirms once and for all the jury’s unanimous verdict that President Donald J. Trump sexually assaulted and defamed E. Jean Carroll. His multiple efforts to appeal that verdict have all failed and today’s ruling ends his quest to avoid accountability for his actions,” Kaplan said in a statement, obtained by NBC News.
The president and Carroll have been in a legal battle since 2019, when the former advice columnist published an excerpt from her memoir that accused Trump of assaulting her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan in the mid-1990s.
Trump called Carroll’s allegations a “hoax” and a “con job” in a social media post in 2022, which formed the basis of the defamation case.
Ariana Baio and Isabel Keane contributed to this report
