As we reported in January, a New York jury ludicrously ordered Donald Trump to pay author E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in one of her civil defamation cases against the former president.
On Thursday, Manhattan federal court Judge Lewis Kaplan refused Trump’s request to delay the judgment until after he rules on post-trial motions – meaning the current GOP frontrunner for the presidential nomination must now pay Carroll or post a bond or assets as collateral by Monday.
BREAKING: A federal judge just told Trump to pay $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll by Monday or post bond, rejecting his plea to delay enforcement.
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) March 8, 2024
NOTE: This comes after a jury decided Trump must compensate her for denying rape allegations from the 1990s, with $18.3 million for… pic.twitter.com/8S5xHFwbEN
From the above Tweet by journalist Simon Ateba:
NOTE: This comes after a jury decided Trump must compensate her for denying rape allegations from the 1990s, with $18.3 million for damages and $65 million for punishment.
In all, Trump owes more than $540 million in judgments and penalties in various cases, including the staggering sum laid down by Judge Arthur Engoron in crusading NY Attorney General Letitia James' civil fraud trial against him.
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Although much of the lawfare against Trump appears to be obviously politically motivated (see Fani Willis, Alvin Bragg, et al.), the E. Jean Carroll case has caused many legal experts to shake their heads in bewilderment.
See:
It's also brought out some truly shameful behavior from some in the media and from Carroll herself.
More:
Donald Trump Is Being Sued for Defamation by a Very Questionable Figure
Judge Kaplan, seemingly personally annoyed with Trump, claimed he had plenty of time to raise the money:
But Kaplan, in his denial order Thursday, wrote that Trump’s “current situation is a result of his own dilatory actions.”
“He has had since January 26 to organize his finances with the knowledge that he might need to bond this judgment, yet he waited until 25 days after the jury verdict” to ask for a pause in the judgment, Kaplan wrote.
The judge also rejected an argument from Trump’s lawyers that he would suffer “irreparable injury” if he was forced to post a bond for the full judgment because he would have to pay non-recoverable fees.
“The expense of ongoing litigation in the absence of a stay does not constitute ‘irreparable injury’ in the relevant sense of that term,” the judge wrote.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung responded, “This is a continuation of a totally lawless witch hunt.”
Carroll claimed Trump raped her in the mid-1990s in a department store, an allegation the former president vigorously denied. Evidently, if your name is Donald Trump and you're in front of a New York jury, denying you committed a crime could cost you tens of millions.
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