Former President Donald Trump must pay writer E. Jean Carroll over $83 million in damages for repeatedly defaming her, a jury found Friday.
The nine-person jury began deliberations in federal court in New York at 1:40 p.m. ET and reached a verdict in just under three hours.
Carroll may not be paid for years if Trump strings out the appeals. But to appeal, he has to either pay the entire award to the court first, or he can use an appeal bond - assuming any financial institution will give him one. His credit rating is questionable with all these trials hanging over his head. $83 million here, maybe $370 million there, unknown amounts in the documents and vote tampering cases. And nobody is actually sure how much he’s worth. The Trump brand is damaged goods.
He’s under a financial microscope at the moment. He can’t reassign any assets until the two civil trials are completed and paid. Whether Carroll sees the entire award depends on the NY fraud outcome and what Trump’s assets are really worth. Maybe his cracker jack attorney will miss the 2 week appeal deadline, allowing Carroll to seize his liquid assets and put liens on Trump’s real estate holdings.