E. Jean Carroll asks court to reject Trump's 'trust me' promise on $83M verdict

Roberta A. Kaplan, an attorney for E. Jean Carroll, filed a legal memorandum objecting to Donald Trump's request to stay an $83.3 million judgment against him.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan previously denied Trump's request for a stay and gave both parties a chance to respond.

"The Court declines to grant any stay, much less an unsecured stay, without first having afforded plaintiff a meaningful opportunity to be heard," the judge wrote in an order filed earlier this week.

Carroll was ordered to respond by Thursday, while Trump was given until March 2.

"Almost one month after the jury returned its verdict in this case, Defendant Donald J. Trump filed yet another motion for a stay—this time, to stay enforcement of the judgment without a bond or any other security that would ensure that Plaintiff E. Jean Carroll's will be able to collect the $83.3 million that Trump now owes her," Carroll's attorney wrote in Thursday's 29-page memo to the court. "The reasoning Trump offers in seeking this extraordinary relief boils down to nothing more than 'trust me.'"

The document argued that there was "no basis in law" for the relief requested by Trump.

Carroll's attorney pointed to a New York court rule that "does not authorize fully unsecured stays."

"But what Trump proposes here is nothing at all. In support of his position, he fails to cite a single controlling (or even persuasive) case," the filing said. "This is an independently sufficient reason to deny Trump's motion. Under the plain language of Rule 62(b), and persuasive authority interpreting it, an entirely unsecured stay is not permissible."

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"With respect to Trump's ability to pay (factors three and four), Trump asks the Court to simply trust that he's very rich—and that posting a bond (or other collateral) would therefore be a waste of money," the document continued.

The attorney for Carroll observed that Trump was recently hit with a $454 million judgment in a New York fraud case.

"And the New York Times has reported that Trump may not have enough cash to cover his post-judgment obligations in the New York state case, let alone in this one," the attorney informed the court. "Trump does not even mention, much less address, these developments, which are obviously highly relevant to his ability to satisfy the judgment here."

The document concluded by asserting that Trump's bond requirement should not be reduced.

"As an apparent fallback, Trump asks this Court to permit a 'substantially reduced bond,'" the filing explained. "This request should be rejected on its face: he offers virtually no reasoning to support it; he has otherwise failed to satisfy any of the requirements set forth in Rule 62(b); and he has not provided any details about the terms of, or actual availability of, a partial bond for any amount."

Carroll sued Trump for defamation in November 2019. She took this step after Trump denied her allegations of sexual assault from the mid-1990s, publicly stating she was lying. Carroll's lawsuit aimed to hold Trump accountable for damaging her reputation with his denials. She accused him of defamation for dismissing her serious allegations as fabrications.