A federal judge has ordered that writer E. Jean Carroll be paid $5.8 million following a jury’s finding that former President Donald Trump sexually abused and defamed her. The ruling was issued Wednesday in New York, allowing Carroll to collect the award, which includes accrued interest on the initial $5 million verdict.

Trump’s legal team promptly filed an appeal to prevent the payment from being released. The former president had already deposited the awarded amount into an account, anticipating the court’s decision. The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to overturn the 2023 civil verdict, clearing the way for Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to authorize the payment.

The jury determined that Trump sexually assaulted Carroll in 1996 inside a Manhattan department store dressing room and defamed her after she publicly accused him in her 2019 memoir. Carroll testified that what had initially appeared to be a friendly, flirtatious encounter turned violent. Trump has consistently denied ever meeting Carroll and characterized her allegations as politically motivated attempts to profit from his name.

Trump’s attorneys have maintained their intention to continue challenging the verdicts, alleging that his political adversaries are exploiting the judicial process. They have appealed to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Carroll’s legal representatives have not immediately commented on the ruling or the ongoing appeals.

This judgment follows a separate defamation case in Manhattan, where a jury awarded Carroll $83 million in damages after a January 2024 trial. That case focused on defamatory remarks made by Trump during his presidency regarding Carroll's allegations. Judge Kaplan instructed the jury in that trial to accept the prior jury’s findings of sexual abuse and instead determine appropriate damages solely for defamation.

Trump’s legal team criticized the framework set by Judge Kaplan for the damages trial, arguing that it unfairly prevented them from presenting evidence to the jury denying that the alleged encounter had taken place.

Throughout the proceedings, Trump did not attend the initial trial in which the sexual abuse and defamation findings were made, but he did provide testimony during the later defamation damages trial. Both cases remain subject to ongoing appeals and legal scrutiny.