E. Jean Carroll receives first $5.6M payment from Trump in defamation case

E. Jean Carroll Receives First Payment from Donald Trump

Donald Trump has finally paid E. Jean Carroll.

The columnist has received $5,625,000 from a court-controlled trust, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

The distribution of funds comes more than three years after Trump was found civilly liable for sexually abusing Carroll in a department store in late 1995.

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

After many legal challenges, Judge Lewis Kaplan (who shares no relation to Carroll's attorney) decided last week that Carroll should receive the money, despite yet another pending appeal from Trump's team on the Supreme Court docket. The Supreme Court had originally declined to hear Trump's petition on June 29. That day, Carroll wrote on her Substack: "THIS WIN IS FOR EVERY WOMAN IN THE WORLD!"

In a six-page memorandum penned Wednesday, Judge Kaplan noted that Trump "has been stalling this case for years."

"It is time for him to 'do equity' and pay the judgement," Kaplan ordered.

The aggregate payment consists of $5 million owed from the original case, along with an additional $625,000 in interest. Yet it's really just the tip of the iceberg for how much Trump owes the beleaguered writer.

After the 2023 civil case, Trump tried and failed to sue Carroll for defamation. Kaplan later ruled that Trump had continued to defame the advice columnist by denying the sexual abuse on the basis that she wasn't his "type," and by accusing her of making up the sexual assault allegations against him for the benefit of her book.

A jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in that case, though Carroll has not yet seen any proceeds from that decision.

This story has been updated.

Read more: Trump Suffers Third E. Jean Carroll Loss in 24 Hours

Republican Lawmakers Question McConnell Health Photo

Even Republican lawmakers are beginning to doubt Senator Mitch McConnell's recent health update.

Speaking with Real America's Voice's Eric Bolling on Monday, MAGA Senator Ron Johnson suggested that the image circulated by McConnell's office was not actually taken that day.

"I've just heard from some other sources that was an older photo. So I really don't know," Johnson said. "I haven't talked to Mitch—I certainly wish he and his family well, I hope he can recover. Listen, it's sad to watch people age, no matter who that person is."

The Kentucky senator went missing for nearly a month, with little explanation offered by his office, after he was found unconscious in his Washington residence and rushed to the hospital on June 14. The media blackout finally ended on Sunday, when McConnell's office shared a photo of the lawmaker beside his wife, holding a copy of The Washington Post's Sunday sports section in his lap.

In a statement released by McConnell's office alongside the image, the lawmaker explained several things that had not happened to him—including that he didn't break any bones or suffer a concussion, and he hadn't had a heart attack or stroke—rather than what had. The 84-year-old Republican did not offer any clarification on his current health condition, other than to say he had dealt with a "mild case of pneumonia" during his time in the hospital.

He also did not offer a projection for when he might return to work, noting that he has since been moved to a rehabilitation facility and is still "working closely" with legislative staff.

Far-right influencers immediately jumped on McConnell's statement, baselessly suggesting that the picture had been AI-generated while demanding that McConnell release a video statement to address public concern.

Johnson, however, changed his tune within hours of the broadcast.

"It was a rumor. Just discount it," Johnson told reporters. "I have no idea. I just, I heard that. I just heard it. So just assume it's false."