President Trump wins again!
You might recall President Trump has been going on the offensive recently, filing major lawsuits against the so-called “MSM”.
And he just scored his first big win: $15 million from ABC News, along with an apology from ABC News and George Stephanopoulos for defaming him:
🚨BREAKING: George Stephanopoulos and ABC apologize to Trump and agree to pay $15 million to settle defamation lawsuit. pic.twitter.com/OG24iFqrbm
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 14, 2024
George Stephanopolous falsely stated that President Trump “r*ped” E Jean Carroll, which was never true:
🚨 #BREAKING: ABC agrees to pay President Trump $15 MILLION after defaming him
BIG WIN! 🔥
George Stephanopolous falsely stated that President Trump “r*ped” E Jean Carroll
The settlement comes with an “apology” from ABC News as well:
“ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret… pic.twitter.com/KYzQiSPg1Z
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) December 14, 2024
Fox News had more details:
ABC News and their top anchor George Stephanopoulos have reached a settlement with Donald Trump in his defamation suit, which will result in the news network paying the president-elect $15 million.
ADVERTISEMENTThe settlement was publicly filed on Saturday, revealing that the two parties have come to an agreement and avoided a costly trial. According to the settlement, ABC News will pay $15 million as a charitable contribution to a “Presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for Plaintiff, as Presidents of the United States of America have established in the past.” Additionally, the network will pay $1 million in Trump’s attorney fees.
Stephanopoulos and ABC News will issue statements of “regret” as an editor’s note at the bottom of a March 10, 2024, online article, about comments made earlier this year that prompted Trump to file a defamation lawsuit.
“ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret statements regarding President Donald J. Trump made during an interview by George Stephanopoulos with Rep. Nancy Mace on ABC’s This Week on March 10, 2024,” the statement reads.
Trump filed a defamation suit against Stephanopoulos after he asserted that Trump was found “liable for rape” in a civil case during a contentious interview with Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., last March.
After playing a clip of Mace discussing being a victim of rape, Stephanopoulos asked her, “How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony we just saw?”
“You’ve endorsed Donald Trump for president. Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming the victim of that rape,” Stephanopoulos said, alluding to the legal victory by Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll.
Stephanopoulos repeated that claim ten times during his spat with Mace, despite the fact that a jury actually determined Trump was liable for “sexual abuse,” which has a distinct definition under New York law.
After the federal jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse, but not rape, Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote in a later ruling that just because Carroll failed to prove rape “within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape.’”
Initially, Stephanopoulos was defiant in the face of Trump’s lawsuit, telling CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert that he wouldn’t be “cowed out of doing my job because of a threat.”
“Trump sued me because I used the word ‘rape,’ even though a judge said that’s in fact what did happen. We filed a motion to dismiss,” Stephanopoulos said.
ADVERTISEMENTThe settlement came after U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisette M. Reid ordered Trump and Stephanopoulos on Friday to sit for depositions next week ahead of the Dec. 24 deadline for the defendants to file a motion for summary judgment, in order to avoid a trial.
HUGE WIN!
RELATED REPORT:
BREAKING: President Trump Sues “Mainstream Media” Outlet For $10 Billion!
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