The Supreme Court on Monday denied President Trump's petition to rehear his appeal of the $5 million verdict in E. Jean Carroll's defamation and sexual abuse suit, closing the last avenue of review and releasing the $5.6 million already held in a court-controlled account since July.
The money has moved
Carroll received the full award plus interest through a court-controlled account last month, after the justices declined in June to hear Trump's initial appeal. Trump's lawyers had asked the appeals court in July to keep the funds frozen or return them, arguing the transfer was premature before a final rehearing decision. That motion is now moot. Kaplan, Carroll's attorney, said the jury's unanimous verdict is "now final and cannot be challenged in any court."
The larger bill remains open
A separate $83.3 million penalty from a second Carroll lawsuit is still on appeal. Trump has asked the Supreme Court to take up that case as well, arguing that questions of presidential immunity raised there also bear on the $5 million judgment. The justices have not yet decided whether to grant certiorari. Trump's legal team called the Carroll cases a "hoax" and "Liberal Lawfare" in a statement Monday.
The procedural rear-guard
The rehearing petition was a long-shot procedural tool the Court grants only in the rarest instances. Its denial was issued without comment or noted dissent as part of a routine order list. The effect is mechanical: the mandate issues, the stay lifts, and Carroll gains unrestricted access to the $5.6 million.
The parallel track
The dispute may shift venues. The Justice Department is reportedly investigating the funding of Carroll's litigation, specifically the role of billionaire Reid Hoffman and his nonprofit American Future Republic. Carroll's lawyers have said she did not initially recall the nonprofit's support in a 2022 deposition. That inquiry runs on a separate track from the civil judgments now finalized.