President Donald Trump is making a last-minute effort to prevent the release of nearly $5.8 million awarded to writer E. Jean Carroll, asking a federal judge to keep the funds in escrow while his legal team pursues additional action before the U.S. Supreme Court.
In a filing submitted Tuesday, Trump's attorneys urged U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan to deny Carroll's request to distribute the judgment, arguing that the case remains active because the president has a pending petition for rehearing 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 court filings.
The request comes just days after the Supreme Court declined to hear Trump's appeal, leaving in place a 2023 jury verdict that found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll. The lawsuit centered on Carroll's claim that Trump assaulted her in the dressing room of a luxury department store during the mid-1990s.
The jury also concluded that Trump defamed Carroll after she publicly disclosed the allegations during his first term in office. Trump has consistently denied the accusations, maintaining that Carroll fabricated the story and insisting the two had never met.
Following the Supreme Court's decision in late June, Trump criticized the ruling 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. “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.”
Although Trump's attorneys argue that a petition for rehearing remains pending before the Supreme Court, court records indicate the petition had not been accepted for filing earlier this week.
In their latest filing, Trump's legal team also argued that releasing the funds now could result in permanent financial harm if the judgment is later overturned. They pointed to Carroll's public statements that she intends to donate any money collected through her civil defamation lawsuits.
“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,” Halpern and Madaio wrote.
Carroll's attorneys have pushed for an expedited release of the funds, arguing that Trump's latest filing is simply another attempt to delay payment after years of litigation.
“This is the end of the line,” Carroll's lawyers wrote in a June 30 filing. “After four years of litigation across every level of the federal court system, it is time for this case to end.”
