ABC has agreed to pay $15 million as part of a settlement with Donald Trump after the president-elect sued the network and host George Stephanopoulos for defamation.
In March, Stephanopoulos pressed congresswoman Nancy Mace about her support for the former president despite a judge finding him “liable for rape by a jury,” he said.
“Donald Trump has been found liable for defaming the victim of that rape by a jury,” Stephonopoulos. “It’s been affirmed by a judge.”
Juries in New York found Trump liable for defaming and sexually abusing E Jean Carroll after he repeatedly called her a liar for speaking publicly about allegations that he assaulted her in the 1990s. Trump has appealed the nearly $90 million in judgments against him.
Last year, the judge overseeing those cases wrote that Carroll’s failure to “prove that she was ‘raped’ 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.’”
“Indeed, as the evidence at trial … makes clear, the jury found that Mr Trump in fact did exactly that,” US District Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote.
But Trump’s lawyers sued the network in federal court in Florida and accused Stephanopoulos of making “patently and demonstrably false” statements about him on air.
One day after Trump and Stephanopoulos were ordered to appear for depositions in an upcoming trial, lawyers for the parties informed the court that ABC has agreed to pay $15 million towards Trump’s presidential library.
ABC will also post a note on its website expressing regret over claims from the March segment.
The network will also be on the hook for $1 million in fees to Trump’s attorneys.
It is a rare lawsuit victory for the former president, who has previously unsuccessfully sued The New York Times and CNN, and is currently trying to claim $10 million in damages from CBS.
Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump also repeatedly threatened to revoke network broadcasting licenses for airing critical coverage.
“We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing,” ABC said in a statement on Saturday.
