E. Jean Carroll receives $5.62 million from Trump in sex abuse case

Writer E. Jean Carroll has received $5.62 million in damages from President Donald Trump following a federal civil jury verdict that found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation, court records showed Tuesday.

The disbursement of $5,625,005.48 was made to Carroll's law firm on July 9, according to a notice filed on the case docket in U.S. District Court in lower Manhattan. The funds had been held in a court-controlled escrow account pending the resolution of Trump's legal efforts to block the payment.

Carroll first publicly accused Trump in 2019 of sexually assaulting her in a department store dressing room three decades earlier. A federal jury unanimously concluded in 2023 that a preponderance of evidence supported her claims of sexual abuse and defamation. The jury awarded her $5 million in damages, with the additional amount representing accrued interest.

Trump had contested the release of the funds since June, following the U.S. Supreme Court's June 29 denial of his request to hear an appeal of the case. A federal judge, Lewis Kaplan, ordered the release of the money on July 8, one day before the disbursement was processed.

Roberta Kaplan, Carroll's attorney, issued a statement to CBS News confirming the payment. "Three years ago, a unanimous nine-person jury found President Trump liable for sexually assaulting and defaming E. Jean Carroll," Kaplan said. "Today, we are pleased to report that she has received the damages payment the jury awarded her as a result of that verdict."

Trump has denied wrongdoing in the case. The payment concludes a legal process that began with Carroll's initial public allegations in 2019 and extended through the 2023 trial and subsequent appeals.