Writer E Jean Carroll wins $8m in Trump sex abuse and defamation case

Writer E Jean Carroll has collected nearly $US5.6 million ($8 million) from Donald Trump after a jury in 2023 found the US president liable for sexually abusing and defaming her, court records show.

Over Mr Trump's objections, the money was released to Ms Carroll's law firm on Monday, local time, five days after US District Judge Lewis Kaplan authorised the disbursement from a court-supervised account.

The payout represents the original $US5 million civil verdict, plus interest.

It is the first time Mr Trump has been forced to pay Ms Carroll.

She has won $US88.3 million in civil verdicts against the president in the seven years since he first denied having raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in Manhattan in about 1996.

Mr Trump has branded Ms Carroll's claims a hoax, denied he knew her, said she made up the alleged rape to help sell her memoir, and derided her case as "weaponisation and lawfare".

Last month, the US Supreme Court rejected Mr Trump's appeal from the $US5 million verdict.

A spokesperson for Mr Trump's legal team repeated a statement made after Judge Kaplan's decision:

"The American People stand with President Trump as they demand an immediate end to all of the Witch Hunts, including the Democrat-funded travesty of the Carroll Hoaxes."

Trump warned of 'irreparable harm'

Last week, Mr Trump's lawyer asked a federal appeals court to block a disbursement, saying the president would suffer "irreparable harm" if Ms Carroll fulfilled her stated intention to give away the money because it most likely would not be recovered.

The lawyer also said it did not matter that Ms Carroll now said she would put the money in an interest-bearing account to fund her retirement because she could still give it away.

Jurors awarded Ms Carroll $US5 million based on Mr Trump's denial in 2022, though they did not find that Mr Trump raped her.

A different jury in 2024 ordered Mr Trump to pay Ms Carroll $US83.3 million, based on his original 2019 denial during his first White House term.

Mr Trump is expected to appeal against that verdict to the Supreme Court.

Ms Carroll's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, who is not related to the judge, said in a statement:

"Three years ago, a unanimous nine-person jury found President Trump liable for sexually assaulting and defaming E Jean Carroll. We are pleased to report that she has received the damages payment the jury awarded her."

Reuters/AP