As of: January 27, 2024, 9:51 p.m
By: Christoph Elzer
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Former US President Donald Trump must pay author E. Jean Caroll a total of more than $88 million in damages for repeated defamation.
And probably won't be able to prevent this legally.
Washington – It has long been clear to observers that Donald Trump would lose the libel trial against Jean Caroll.
However, the amount of compensation set by the jury in favor of the author came as a surprise to many and now poses a huge problem for Trump.
Because it will be extremely difficult or perhaps even impossible for him to take action against the verdict.
He may just be able to reduce the total a little.
The verdict against Trump had barely been announced when the Republican commented on his own social network
Truth Social
: “Absolutely ridiculous!
I vehemently disagree with both rulings and will object to this entire witch hunt led by Biden against me and the Republican Party.” But it is unlikely that it will actually come to that.
This is due to legal and financial hurdles, which Trump clearly underestimated.
His lawyer did Trump a disservice
First of all, it is important to know that Caroll's case against Trump was a civil case and not a criminal case.
This is important and unfavorable for Trump because there is no option in American civil law to challenge a judgment due to poor legal advice or poor legal representation.
That's exactly what would be obvious in Trump's case, since his lawyer Alina Haba behaved extremely naively in the proceedings.
She allowed evidence to be part of the evidence throughout the entire proceedings without objection.
She repeatedly acknowledged evidence presented by the other side with the phrase “no objection”.
In doing so, she and Trump have given themselves and Trump the basis to doubt the validity, relevance or even authenticity of the evidence for a reopening of the trial.
From the defense's perspective, all pieces of evidence do not pose a problem - and are therefore considered to be fully usable against the defendant.
In this courtroom sketch, Donald Trump testifies in federal court in New York on Thursday, January 25, 2024, as Judge Lewis Kaplan (L) listens.
© Elizabeth Williams/dpa
Trump therefore now lacks the arguments for an appeal - but without them there will be no reopening of the proceedings.
The convicted person must prove errors in the civil process in order to be able to appeal the verdict.
However, Haba took away the basis for this from her client.
How much money does Trump really have at his disposal?
But even if Trump - presumably with a new legal team - were to find procedural errors that would allow an appeal, it is very likely that the former US president will still not appeal.
To do this, he would have to deposit the compensation amount from the verdict as security in a court trust account.
In the first defamation case, Jean Caroll was awarded $5 million in damages.
Trump deposited this sum with the court in order to be able to appeal.
In order to restart proceedings, he would now have to deposit an additional $83.3 million.
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Whether Trump even has the necessary liquid assets for this is controversial.
He himself testified in court that he had around $400 million in cash, but external observers believe the real amount is significantly lower.
Because Trump's fortune - according to Forbes more than two billion dollars - is almost entirely made up of real estate assets.
And he is currently unable to liquidate these properties, some of which have apparently been significantly overvalued by Trump, due to another legal dispute.
A jury awarded Carroll (m) an additional $83.3 million (approximately €77 million).
© Yuki Iwamura/FR171758 AP/AP
If Trump actually has $400 million in liquid assets, the total $88.3 million in damages would be more than a fifth of his total cash reserves - an extreme burden even for a very rich man.
And if Trump actually deposited the money for an appeal, Caroll would have it virtually guaranteed - because from then on, if she won again, she would have the entire sum paid out directly by the court and would not have to chase after Trump for her compensation.
Trump faces default interest of $22,000 per day
Therefore, the most likely variant is that Trump wants to reach an out-of-court agreement with Caroll's lawyers in order to reduce the amount of damages.
This is quite common in such cases in the American legal system.
To ensure that the debtor does not unnecessarily prolong the payment, the creditor waives part of the sum - usually around 25 percent.
In Trump's case that would be a good $22 million.
ELECTION INFLUENCING!!!
WITCH HUNT!!!
Donald Trump after the verdict on Truth Social
However, it is questionable whether Caroll would accept such a deal - because the court has given her good arguments why she could insist on paying out the entire sum.
On the one hand, there is the five million dollars from the first trial that Trump had to deposit and which the court is now paying out to Caroll.
So she shouldn't have any immediate money worries.
And on the other hand, the court set a default interest that Trump must pay for every day that he does not pay out the compensation.
That interest amounts to $22,739 per day, wrote attorney Brian Manookian on X (formerly Twitter).
Any further delay will cost Trump dearly.
Because the total amount including default interest can be seized by E. Jean Caroll, for example in the form of Trump's real estate.
No matter how loudly Trump rumbles on television or on Truth Social, it is extremely unlikely that the former and possibly next President of the USA will appeal against Caroll.
It is much more likely that he secretly pays off the author and continues to portray himself to his electorate as the victim of a witch hunt.