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E. Jean Carroll leaves Federal court, Jan. 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura. File). Inset: ANUARY 26th 2024: Former president Donald Trump is ordered by jury to pay $83.3 million to columnist E. Jean Carroll after being found liable for defamation. /Andrea Renault/STAR MAX/IPx 2023 10/18/23
“Trust me” are two words attorneys for writer E. Jean Carroll just aren’t buying from Donald Trump. But they will take the $83.3 million he owes for defaming her, posthaste.
Attorneys for the writer, including Roberta Kaplan, urged a federal judge in New York on Thursday to reject Donald Trump’s latest attempt to stay the massive court-ordered award. The 36-page memorandum in opposition was candid: Trump’s attempt to stay the order has “absolutely no basis in law” and fails across multiple fronts, namely that he cannot meet basic burden of proof requirements and he ignores federal rules that bar unsecured stays.
Nearly a month has passed since the jury returned its verdict and this is the second time Trump has attempted to stay the order. But this time, Trump is asking to do it “without a bond or any other security.”
If the court granted the request, Carroll would have to trust Trump’s word.
“The reasoning Trump offers in seeking this extraordinary relief boils down to nothing more than ‘trust me.’ He doesn’t offer any information about his finances or the nature and location of his assets. He doesn’t specify what percentage of his assets are liquid or explain how Carroll might go about collecting. He doesn’t even acknowledge the risks that now accompany his financial situation, from a half-billion dollar judgment obtained by the New York Attorney General [Letitia James] to the 91 felony charges that might end his career as a businessman permanently,” Kaplan wrote. “He simply asks the court to ‘trust me’ and offers in this case, with an $83.3 million judgment against him, the court filing equivalent of a paper napkin, signed by the least trustworthy of borrowers.”
Trump owes $464 million already in New York after his civil fraud judgment trial ended. Just a day ago, Trump said he could only cough up a portion of it and it would be “impossible” to secure in full, a claim that comes in the wake of Trump’s claims that his Mar-a-Lago property in West Palm Beach is worth $1 billion by itself.
In truth, tax adjusters have pegged the value at a mere fraction of that, likely somewhere from $18 million to $37 million.
“More broadly, Trump is certainly not an example of someone who has fostered transparency or trustworthiness when it comes to his financial situation,” Kaplan wrote.
The clock is now ticking for Trump to start explaining why he can’t pay Carroll. Court records show U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan gave Trump until March 2 to file a reply.
A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately return a request for comment.
Meanwhile, Trump is expected to face criminal trial in New York on March 25 where Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is prosecuting the former president on allegations that he made hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and lied about in the run up to the 2016 election.
Read the entire memorandum here.
