Trump Hits Liberal Host and His Network with Big Lawsuit
Former President Donald Trump has initiated a defamation lawsuit against ABC News and commentator George Stephanopoulos following rape allegations made by Stephanopoulos in a recent interview with Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina.
The lawsuit was filed by Trump on Monday in federal court in Miami, as reported by Law.com.
During a March 10 interview on “This Week,” Stephanopoulos questioned Mace about her endorsement of Trump, highlighting that “judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape,” despite Mace being a rape victim during her teenage years.
Mace responded by accusing Stephanopoulos of attempting to shame a rape victim — herself.
Stephanopoulos referred to a 2023 civil case in which writer E. Jean Carroll won a multimillion-dollar judgment against Trump for allegedly sexually abusing her in 1996 and defaming her.
Contrary to Stephanopoulos’ statement, federal Judge Lewis A. Kaplan informed the jury that they could find Trump liable for rape, but the jury declined to do so.
A later memorandum by Kaplan acknowledged that while the behavior did not meet the technical definition of rape under New York law, evidence presented in the trial suggested that Trump's actions constituted sexual abuse, violating common and other legal definitions of rape.
However, Trump’s Miami legal team member, Alejandro “Alex” Brito, clarified that Trump “was never found liable for rape,” as reported by Law.com.
Brito emphasized that being accused of involvement in rape on Stephanopoulos’ program constitutes a clear defamatory statement.
“We requested an apology and a retraction from ABC and ABC News immediately following the news reports,” Brito stated.
“Instead of acknowledging Stephanopoulos’ error and providing a retraction, ABC only changed the headline of the story,” he added.
Brito intends to use another interview conducted by Stephanopoulos with Carroll after the trial, where Stephanopoulos asked about the announcement in court that Trump was not found liable for rape.
According to Brito, Stephanopoulos knowingly ignored the facts during the interview, using the term repeatedly despite being aware of the trial’s outcome.
“He said it multiple times in a short interview and was referring to notes when asking these questions,” Brito noted.
Carroll was awarded $5 million in the sexual assault judgment, and in January, Trump was ordered to pay her $83.3 million for defamation.