(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Trump’s latest ploy to avoid paying E. Jean Carroll is just pathetic [1] ['Lisa Needham'] Date: 2026-07-07 E. Jean Carroll, second from right, leaves federal court in New York on May 8, 2023. A jury awarded her $5 million after finding Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing her. Last week, we learned that although President Donald Trump has essentially had a cheat code for the Supreme Court over the past 18 months, one which allows him near-infinite lives and near-infinite wins, he simply can’t abide being refused even the smallest treat. So he’s racing back to the nation’s highest court to demand that they hear his endless arguments against why he should have to pay E. Jean Carroll the millions he owes her after a jury found him liable for sexually abusing her. On June 29, the Supreme Court declined to hear Trump’s whine and refused to take up his petition for certiorari, which meant both that he had to pay Carroll the $5 million the jury awarded her and that the court would not be overturning the jury verdict finding he sexually abused her. Trump swiftly came up with the genius plan that he would appeal the Supreme Court ruling by asking the Supreme Court to immediately reconsider their decision and therefore, since he was still appealing, he shouldn’t be required to pay Carroll until after the court re-decides. Related | Trump won’t pay E. Jean Carroll—no matter how many times he loses You will not be surprised to learn this did not go over well with Carroll’s attorneys, who declined to join this little plan. But because Trump is stonewalling, her attorneys were forced to write to the lower court to deal with this, asking for an abbreviated briefing schedule for this latest move. Carroll’s attorneys told the lower court that the Supreme Court had declined to hear Trump’s appeal and that was the end of the line. Therefore, giving Trump the normal length of time to bring additional spurious arguments, all the while refusing to pay, was both unnecessary and wrong. But wait! Trump had another genius plan. You see, his new attorneys need all that time to raise a weird, fruitless argument about appealing a Supreme Court decision because he appointed his existing attorney to a lifetime seat on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals: President Trump’s former lead counsel on this matter, Justin Smith, has recently left the representation due to his confirmation to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. President Trump’s new lead counsel, Josh Halpern, requests the standard amount of time provided by the Rules to become completely familiar with the facts and procedural circumstances of this case, and provide an adequate response pursuant to the standard timeline contemplated by the Local Rules. The president of the United States has an infinite army of high-profile attorneys, the ability to bury any litigant imaginable, and is extremely cozy with the Supreme Court. But somehow we should ignore all that because he and his attorneys are just widdle guys, you know? They need time! David Horsey/Tribune Content Agency The lower court judge who oversaw the Carroll trial, Judge Lewis Kaplan, did not even entertain this with a written order—just a little text note dropped on the docket. Nor should Kaplan entertain this. You see, Trump’s attorneys aren’t even arguing that somehow it’s unfair that Trump has to pay a jury verdict that has been upheld by every court at every turn. They’re whining that it isn’t fair that they have to file those arguments quickly. They are big babies. Now, Carroll is stuck, yet again, fighting for the money a jury awarded her over three years ago. Trump’s warping of the federal courts is so stark and so endless—and it will haunt us long after he’s gone. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/7/7/800066518/courts/trumps-latest-ploy-to-avoid-paying-e-jean-carroll-is-just-pathetic/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/