US judge orders release of $5.8m Trump owes E Jean Carroll after court loss

Order frees funds from Trump’s 2023 sexual abuse and defamation verdict after supreme court appeal failed Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email A Manhattan federal court judge on Wednesday ordered the release of the more than $5m Donald Trump owes E Jean Carroll following her successful 2023 sexual abuse and defamation trial against him. Less than an hour after the judge issued his order, Trump filed paperwork indicating he was appealing the decision. Trump had deposited this $5m jury award, as well as 11% interest, into a court-held account some six weeks after Carroll’s courtroom victory. Judge Lewis Kaplan’s order directs the disbursement of these court controlled funds, which now total some $5.8m due to interest accrual. “The Clerk is respectfully directed to disburse … the value of the principle Judgment, which amounts to $5,000,000.00,” Kaplan’s order stated. “The Clerk is further respectfully directed to disburse … the value of the post-judgment interest.” Kaplan’s decision comes more than three years after Carroll bested Trump in her bombshell civil case; jurors determined that he sexually abused the former Elle writer and unlawfully impugned her reputation with