ABC News Settles Defamation Lawsuit with $15 Million Contribution to Trump Library
- M.R Mishra
- Dec 17, 2024
- 2 min read
ABC News has agreed to pay $15 million toward Donald Trump’s presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit stemming from inaccurate on-air comments made by anchor George Stephanopoulos.
The lawsuit was filed after Stephanopoulos incorrectly stated that Trump had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll during a March broadcast of “This Week.”
As part of the settlement announced on Saturday, ABC issued an editor’s note on its website expressing regret for the inaccurate statements. Additionally, the network will pay $1 million in legal fees to Trump’s attorney, Alejandro Brito.
The settlement categorizes the $15 million payment as a “charitable contribution” to a non-profit tied to Trump’s yet-to-be-built presidential library.
The agreement, signed on Friday, came just as a Florida federal judge had ordered depositions for both Trump and Stephanopoulos to take place the following week. The settlement nullified the need for sworn testimony. ABC has 10 days to transfer the funds to an escrow account managed by Brito’s law firm and to pay the legal fees.
While significant, ABC’s contribution represents a small fraction of the expected costs of Trump’s presidential library.
For reference, Barack Obama’s library in Chicago was estimated to cost $830 million as of 2021.
The lawsuit was filed in Miami federal court shortly after the segment aired.
Stephanopoulos had claimed during a live interview with Rep. Nancy Mace that Trump was found liable for “rape” and for defaming the alleged victim. In reality, the jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse, not rape under New York’s legal definition, and defamation.
Trump was ordered to pay E. Jean Carroll $5 million in damages in the first trial, and in a subsequent trial, an additional $83.3 million for defamation. Trump continues to appeal both rulings.
Carroll, a former columnist, alleged in a 2019 memoir that Trump sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s.
Trump denied the claims, calling Carroll’s allegations false and accusing her of fabricating the story to boost book sales. Carroll subsequently sued Trump for defamation and damages.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over both trials, clarified that while New York law defines rape narrowly as vaginal penetration by a penis, the jury’s finding supported that Trump committed sexual abuse. Kaplan noted that the verdict did not negate Carroll’s broader claims of being raped, as the term is often understood beyond legal definitions.
ABC News’ settlement underscores the network’s effort to resolve the dispute while addressing the legal and financial repercussions of the lawsuit.
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