A federal judge on Thursday rejected Donald Trump’s request for three extra days to pay damages in writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case against the former president.
The payment's scheduled due date is Monday. Trump was ordered to pay $83.3 million, and with interest the full amount will be $91.6 million.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the trial in New York, said Trump has had plenty of time to arrange for payment in the weeks since a jury in January found him liable for defamation by denying that he sexually abused Carroll in the ’90s in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan.
“Mr. Trump’s current situation is a result of his own dilatory actions,” Kaplan wrote in his order. “He has had since January 26 to organize his finances with the knowledge that he might need to bond this judgment.”
A campaign spokesman for Trump blasted the order in a statement Thursday.
"This a continuation of a totally lawless Witch Hunt. President Trump filed a timely motion to stay the ridiculous judgment, and many courts, including the Second Circuit, recognize the importance of temporary administrative stays while such motions are considered," said Steven Cheung. "We look forward to continuing to litigate the case and to complete vindication of the Truth.”
On Wednesday, Trump attorney Alina Habba asked Kaplan to pause enforcing the verdict until three business days after the court rules on a longer-term stay in an effort to get ahead of Monday's deadline finalizing the judgment.
Trump last month sought a longer pause in enforcement of the verdict, pending resolution of his post-trial motions. Kaplan has yet to rule on that request.
Trump's attorneys filed for a new trial in the case Tuesday and requested that Kaplan substantially reduce the judgment. They contended that the jury’s compensatory and punitive awards were out of proportion and argued that the $11 million award for reputational harm “is disproportionately high” compared to awards in similar cases.
