LOS ANGELES.–Expressing grave concerns about collecting her Jan. 26 $83.3 million defamation jury award because of 77-year-old former President Donald Trump other legal awards totaling nearly $500 million when adding everything up. Carroll knows she received an excessive award subject to appeal in her defamation suit, when Trump said on his Truth Social platform that he didn’t know Carroll, never sexually assaulted her and she was just trying to sell books. Whatever Trump said, no judge or jury could possibly think that exercising his First Amendment rights results in a $83.3 million defamation award. Carroll says she has “very serious concerns” that she’ll never collect the excessive judgment. Carroll’s attorney Robert Kaplan said Trump asks the court to trust him when he has zero credibility when it comes to paying the whopping defamation judgments.
Whatever one thinks of Trump, the non-criminal justice system is built on equity, where settlements reflect the degree of actual damages, not the whim of a judge or jury looking to retaliate against someone they despise. “He simply asks the Court to ‘trust me’ and offers, in a case with an $83.3 million judgment against him, the court filing equivalent of a paper napkin signed by the least trustworthy of borrowers,” Kaplan said. Kaplan, of course, worries that she’ll never collect her 33% or whatever fee Carroll agreed to in her case against Trump. No one knows better than Kaplan that the award against Trump was excessive, not consistent with responsible judgments for comparable settlements. Trump’s lawyers want to delay payment until he can appeal the judgment, either reducing the amount or eliminating it entirely. Kaplan wants quick action because she knows that substantial amount of the $83.3 million could reduced significantly or eliminated completely.
Trump faces the same, but worse, problems for his Feb. 6 verdict in State Court brought by Atty. Gen. Letitia James and ruled on by Judge Arthur Engoron, fining him $355 million for alleged fraud. Trump was denied Feb. 28 by Appeals Court Judge Anil Singh to delay payment of the $355 million judgment against him. “To begin, recent developments give rise to very serious concerns about Trump’s cash position and the feasibility [and ease] of collection on the judgment in this case,” Robert Kaplan wrote the court. Trump’s offer to post a $100 million bond was rejected by appeals court Judge Anil Singh. James said if Trump didn’t pony up the $355 million award, she would proceed to foreclose on his New York real estate holdings, including at least two Trump Towers or other properties like his Palm Beach Mar-a-Lago estate or various golf clubs in New Jersey or elsewhere.
When you consider all the financial pressure of recent legal judgments, you’d think Trump couldn’t concentrate on the campaign but it’s clearly the only thing that gives him hope while he fights various civil and criminal cases. Atty. Gen. Letitia James said Trump must pay the full $355 million judgment to avoid paying interest and penalties, bringing the judgment to more than $454 million. You’d think that James would have some flexibility considering the amount of the judgment, requiring most businessmen enough time to generate the liquid capital. Trump has most of his estimated $2.6 billion to $3.1 billion in wealth tied up in real estate, requiring liquidation to generate the capital to pay fines. Carroll and her attorneys know that the $83.3 million defamation judgment was beyond the pale, so far in excess of anything reasonable, that it can’t stand any responsible appeal.
Carroll and her attorney want their cash but the excessive judgment must be reevaluated for its undeniable excess, inequity and mockery of the civil justice system. Democrats and the press have done everthing possible to interfere with what looks like a rematch of 2020, where Trump and Biden get to duke it again. Special Counsel Jack Smith now must wait until the Supreme Court rules on Trump’s alleged crimes on Jan. 6, 2022, claiming he interfered with the Electoral Vote certification. But no court has ruled that Trump actually planned, orchestrated or in anyway participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, something Democrats and press call an “insurrection.” When Trump was impeached by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for “incitement of insurrection,” she designed it that way to show that Trump violated Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, barring him from running again.
Carroll and her attorney Robert Kaplan know they got away with murder in the grossly unfair $83.3 defamation award against Trump. If the judgment were $1 million it would be too much based on Trump doing nothing to damage her reputation as former Elle Magazine advice columnist. Whatever happened in the lingerie dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman with Trump at some unknown date in the mid ‘90s, since Carroll can’t remember, it’s highly likely, if anything happened at all, that it was a consensual encounter. Trump was a famous New York real estate tycoon and celebrity at the time who would never jeopardize his career for a brief encounter. Carroll’s May 9, 2023 award gave her the benefit of the doubt. Her defamation case was entirely gratuitous, reflecting a civil justice system gone amok with a judge and jury showing extreme prejudice against Trump.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
