ABC and Stephanopoulos apologize to Trump and pay massive amount in defamation fallout

Conil

Well-known member
Apr 12, 2013
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Jackass of Stefanopoulos doesn't know when to shut up.

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.

The 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.

The settlement came after U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisette M. Reid recently ordered Trump and Stephanopoulos to attend an in-person deposition hearing next week ahead of the Dec. 24 deadline for the defendants to file a motion for summary judgment, in order to avoid a trial.

In his lawsuit against Stephanopoulos and ABC, Trump was represented by Florida attorneys Alejandro Brito and Richard Klugh, who also represent the president-elect in his legal case against CNN. The settlement with ABC was filed in the Southern District of Florida Federal Court where both parties signed and agreed to the terms.


The settlement comes after a string of legal victories for Trump and his legal team, coordinated by senior legal adviser Boris Epshteyn.

Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan recently granted Special Counsel Jack Smith’s recent request to dismiss his case against Trump related to the 2020 election. Smith also tossed his appeal in the classified records case on Monday after a federal judge dismissed the charges altogether in July, ruling that he was unlawfully appointed as special counsel.

In New York v. Trump, Judge Juan Merchan granted Trump’s request to file a motion to dismiss the charges stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case and removed the sentencing date for the president-elect from the schedule.

Trump is also suing CBS News for $10 billion in damages, stating the network practiced "deceptive conduct" for the purpose of election interference in its interview in October with Vice President Kamala Harris.

 

kherg007

Well-known member
May 3, 2014
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Hope it works out like it did for E Jean Carroll...
 

mitchell76

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Aug 10, 2010
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🚨
#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 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.” F*** around and find out, ABC!
 

mandrill

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Aug 23, 2001
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There were numerous members on here who were issuing the same lie over and over again.
It ever cross your mind that the $15M payment for the bullshit lawsuit was paid simply to buy Trump off from harassing and making trouble for ABC News through his entire 4-year presidency???
 

bver_hunter

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Nov 5, 2005
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We all know that Trump actually raped Carroll, as the definition of rape is "far narrower" than how rape is defined in common parlance.
Trump is appealing the Carroll cases where Carroll got just $5 Million for this "Sexual assault" case, however she stung him for $83.3 Million for Defamation of character!!
We know that Trump will lose both the cases, on appeal and that will incur further charges for him!! The appeal will probably not occur while he is in office!!
 

WyattEarp

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May 17, 2017
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We know that Trump will lose both the cases, on appeal and that will incur further charges for him!!
We don't know. You don't know. Let the court process work itself out.
 
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WyattEarp

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May 17, 2017
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It ever cross your mind that the $15M payment for the bullshit lawsuit was paid simply to buy Trump off from harassing and making trouble for ABC News through his entire 4-year presidency???
No, I don't think this buys ABC News anything with Donald Trump during his Presidency. He's not going to cut them any slack especially Geo.

I would tend to agree ABC didn't think it was worth fighting, but that might also be indicative of the gray area this Carroll legal case has occupied.
 
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WyattEarp

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May 17, 2017
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There were numerous members on here who were issuing the same lie over and over again.
Almost comically the TDS crowd is still arguing that it was rape. We've tried to explain the nuances of civil cases to no avail.

Clearly on the numerous threads where they declared it was rape, we weren't being pedantic in explaining that Carroll was awarded money for some perceived suffering. Criminality was not decided and the standard for finding in favor of the accuser much lower.
 
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WyattEarp

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May 17, 2017
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I think he could have stuck ABC for more than $15 million although ABC is not flush with cash.
Disney owns ABC News and has a market capitalization of over $200 billion. They could have easily fought this if they thought it was worth it in terms of reputation and principle.
 
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