Trump Defamation Lawsuit Against ABC and George Stephanopoulos to Move Forward: There are just over 100 days remaining until Election Day, and after President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he would bow out of the race, former President Donald Trump may face a reenergized Democratic base that has rallied behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
But we also need to keep an eye on the courts.
Indeed, while Trump's chances of reclaiming the White House are as uncertain as ever, he scored another legal win on Wednesday.
A federal judge refused to dismiss Trump's lawsuit against ABC News and George Stephanopoulos following the news anchor's comments made in March after he asserted Trump was essentially found "liable for rape."
The former president had sued the Disney-owned network and Stephanopoulos, claiming the anchor defamed him during an interview with Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, in which Stephanopoulos stated on multiple occasions that Trump was found liable for the rape of writer E. Jean Carroll. According to the lawsuit, Stephanopoulos' comments were made "with actual malice or with a reckless disregard for the truth."
Judge Cecilia Altonaga of the United States District Court in Miami ruled Wednesday, "A jury may, upon viewing the segment, find there was sufficient context. But a reasonable jury could conclude Plaintiff was defamed and, as a result, dismissal is inappropriate."
In other words, Altonaga, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, didn't take sides with either the former president or the news anchor; yet, her ruling has been seen as a victory for Trump, as it allows the case to proceed. ABC News has declined to comment.
It was last year that a Manhattan federal jury found Trump had sexually abused Carroll, and held him liable for battery, but it did not find that she proved her longstanding claim she had been raped. U.S. Judge Lewis Kaplan subsequently dismissed a countersuit brought by Trump, and ruled that Carroll's claim was "substantially true," at least in the broader sense – but not as narrowly defined by New York State law CNN reported.
In addition to being found liable for the sexual assault of Carroll, Trump was also found liable for the defamation of Carroll in May 2023. She was awarded $5 million in damages last year, while she won a second defamation suit against Trump in January and was awarded $83.3 million in damages.
Altonaga's ruling noted that the definitions were different enough that Trump's case against ABC and Stephanopoulos should move forward.
"New York has opted to separate out a crime of rape. Stephanopoulos’s statements dealt not with the public’s usage of that term, but the jury’s consideration of it during a formal legal proceeding," Altonaga wrote in her ruling and left it for a future jury to decide.
"Judge Kaplan was reviewing a jury's damages award. His analysis necessarily focused on what Carroll had and had not proved at trial, as well as the harm Carroll experienced from (Trump's) abuse. There was no discussion of how to accurately report on the jury's findings," the 21-page ruling continued.
"Stephanopoulos's exchange with Mace lasted about ten minutes, during which Stephanopoulos stated ten times that a jury or juries had found Plaintiff liable for rape," wrote Altonaga. "In fact, of course, the Carroll II jury did not find (Trump) liable for rape under New York Penal Law; it was Judge Kaplan who determined that the jury's verdict amounted to liability for rape."
Though this doesn't mean the case is over – far from it – Trump was quick to suggest otherwise, posting on Truth Social that it was a "BIG WIN" against "ABCE FAKE NEWS" and LIDDLE GEORGE SLOPADOPOLUS."
"BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA WILL BE FORCED BY THE COURTS TO START TELLING THE TRUTH. THIS IS A GREAT DAY FOR OUR COUNTRY. MAGA2024!," the former president added.
Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.
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