Key Takeaways
- E. Jean Carroll finally received the $5 million jury award (plus interest) three years after the verdict, with the Supreme Court’s June 29 denial of Donald Trump’s appeal clearing the path for payment.
- The jury unanimously found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, though it rejected the rape claim because New York’s statutory definition required forceful genital penetration, which the evidence did not meet.
- Post‑trial rulings by the trial judge characterized Carroll’s rape allegation as “substantially true” and criticized New York’s rape statute as outdated compared with federal standards and modern understandings of sexual violence.
- Carroll’s legal team highlighted a pattern of behavior, citing testimony from two other women and the infamous 2016 “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump bragged about grabbing women’s genitals.
- A second federal jury in January 2024 awarded Carroll an additional $83 million for further defamatory statements; Trump’s attorneys have signaled they will also appeal that decision to the Supreme Court.
Three years after a nine‑person federal jury unanimously concluded that President Donald Trump sexually abused and defamed writer E. Jean Carroll, she has finally collected the damages awarded to her. The jury’s 2023 verdict ordered Trump to pay $5 million, a sum that, after accruing interest, amounted to $5.62 million. Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, announced the payment in a statement to CBS News, emphasizing that the verdict had been upheld despite Trump’s prolonged efforts to delay or overturn it.
The funds had been sequestered in a court‑controlled account while Trump pursued appeals. His legal team first asked the Supreme Court to hear his challenge to the verdict; when the Court declined to take the case on June 29, the roadblock was removed. Carroll celebrated the decision immediately, posting an all‑caps note on her Substack blog that read, “WE WON! THIS WIN IS FOR EVERY WOMAN IN THE WORLD!” The payment was then released from the account, ending a protracted wait that began long before the trial.
Carroll first went public with her allegation in 2019, claiming that Trump forcibly inserted his fingers into her vagina during a chance encounter at a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid‑1990s. She said the encounter began innocently—she was helping Trump select a gift for another woman—but turned violent when he led her into a private changing room. At the 2023 civil trial, Trump did not testify, and his lawyers called no witnesses. After hearing the evidence, which included testimony from two other women who described similar sudden shifts from casual interaction to alleged sexual misconduct, as well as the infamous 2016 “Access Hollywood” video in which Trump bragged about grabbing women’s genitals, the jury deliberated for less than three hours before returning a unanimous verdict.
The jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation but rejected the rape claim. Under New York law at the time, rape required proof of forceful penetration involving the attacker’s genitals—a standard the jurors concluded was not satisfied by the facts presented. In his post‑trial opinion, the judge wrote that the state’s rape statute is “out of touch with federal standards” and a “modern” understanding of rape, and he characterized Carroll’s assertion that Trump raped her as “substantially true.” This commentary highlighted a growing disconnect between state definitions and evolving societal views on sexual violence.
Carroll’s attorneys framed her experience as part of a broader pattern, or “modus operandi,” of Trump’s behavior, pointing to the testimony of the two other women and the Access Hollywood clip as evidence of a repeated strategy of turning casual encounters into non‑consensual sexual acts. The jury’s finding of liability for sexual abuse and defamation affirmed that narrative, even as the rape charge fell short of the statutory threshold.
The legal battle is far from over. In January 2024, a separate federal jury found Trump liable for additional defamatory statements made against Carroll and awarded her $83 million. Trump’s legal team has indicated they will appeal that decision as well, potentially taking it to the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Carroll continues to advocate for accountability, framing her victory as a broader win for women worldwide. The payment of the $5.62 million judgment marks a significant milestone in her long‑running campaign, though the lingering appeals underscore the contentious and protracted nature of the fight to hold a former president accountable for alleged sexual misconduct.