Trump seeks to halt $83M defamation payment to E. Jean Carroll pending Supreme Court appeal

Donald Trump's lawyer has asked a federal appeals court in New York to temporarily block writer E. Jean Carroll from collecting an $83 million defamation award while Trump pursues an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The filing, made Tuesday by attorney Justin D. Smith with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, seeks a stay of the court's decision supporting the award. Trump argues he has absolute immunity from lawsuits stemming from statements made while he was president. A Manhattan jury awarded Carroll the $83 million in January 2024. A separate jury in May 2023 had already awarded Carroll $5 million after finding Trump sexually abused her in a Manhattan department store dressing room in 1996 and defamed her after she published her account in 2019. Trump has denied the allegations, claiming they are politically motivated. Carroll's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, did not oppose the stay request provided Trump increases the bond by $7.4 million to cover post-judgment interest during a potential Supreme Court review.