Trump Sues ABC and Stephanopoulos, Saying They Defamed Him

[pnwmom]

Source: NYTimes

Former President Donald J. Trump filed a defamation lawsuit against ABC News on Monday, arguing that the anchor George Stephanopoulos had harmed his reputation by saying multiple times on-air that Mr. Trump had been found liable for raping the writer E. Jean Carroll.

A jury in a Manhattan civil case last year found Mr. Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Ms. Carroll, but did not find the former president liable for rape. The judge, however, later clarified that because of New York's narrow legal definition of "rape," the jury's finding did not mean that Ms. Carroll "failed to prove that Mr. Trump 'raped' her as many people commonly understand the word 'rape.'"

Mr. Stephanopoulos, who was named as a co-defendant, said Mr. Trump was found liable for rape during a contentious interview on March 10 with Representative Nancy Mace, Republican of South Carolina. During the interview, Mr. Stephanopoulos asked Ms. Mace, who has spoken publicly about being raped as a teenager, why she continued to support Mr. Trump in light of the outcome of the civil case.

Mr. Trump, who often galvanizes his supporters by attacking the press, has filed a string of unsuccessful defamation suits against major media organizations. Federal judges have dismissed his suits against CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post.


Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/18/us/politics/trump-lawsuit-abc-stephanopoulos.html

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Here's the lawsuit.

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.664183/gov.uscourts.flsd.664183.1.0.pdf?fbclidIwAR1zdcQ_G9VT7RJO_q5Qz__cf_UyO5dd1aIXsTdV4u6PZQXxU-4517G_iMI

On page 5, #16, Trump asserts that he's been consistently denying Carroll's "false, fabricated, and defamatory allegations."

I wonder if this lawsuit will give Carroll more grounds to sue him again.

[moniss]

1. The absurdity that anything

could possibly make people think less of him given what everyone has already seen over the last several years.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. You are held liable for defamation if the original contention was true,

and the original contention was that Trump sexually assaulted (parsing words, Donald) E Jean Carroll. Therefore, GS repeated the verdict/finding of fact can't be defamation in itself.

Game over.

[rampartc]

3. maybe there is some technical inaccuracy in stephanopolis' characterization

as a juror i might find for the plaintiff and award trump 1 dollar and pay his own damn frivolous lawyers.

[EarlG]

4. He already lost this once

when he tried to countersue E Jean Carroll for the same thing. Here’s how it went:

Judge says E Jean Carroll allegation Trump raped her is ‘substantially true’ in court dismissal

Donald Trump suffered another legal reversal on Monday, losing his counterclaim for defamation against E Jean Carroll, the writer against whom he was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation and fined $5m, and who continues to pursue a separate defamation case against him.

Dismissing the counterclaim, a judge in New York, Lewis A Kaplan, said that when Carroll repeated her allegation that Trump raped her, her words were “substantially true”. Kaplan also set out in detail why it may be said that Trump raped Carroll.

https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/07/donald-trump-rape-language-e-jean-carroll

So I guess if Trump wants even more publicity directed at the fact he’s a rapist, please proceed.

[yardwork]

6. As a narcissist, he can't ever admit that he is ever wrong.

He will never stop insisting that he is the wronged one. He'll do this over and over and over...

Unfortunately, that's exactly what his followers want to hear.

[Irish_Dem]

8. You are quite correct, narcissists can never admit they are wrong.

It is always someone else's fault.

They love playing the victim.

They think people are jealous of how good looking, talented and special they are.

[yardwork]

9. It was fiendishly clever to stand up Trump as the figurehead.

Trump's deeply disturbed emotions and beliefs match the resentments and fears of millions of Americans. The effect of decades of carefully scripted propaganda is that almost half of U.S. voters have symptoms that mimic personality disorders.

I think of some of my relatives and their friends. They're retired with various government pensions, Medicare, social security, lucrative real estate investments. Their employers paid for their college educations and provide generous retirement packages. The U.S. has done very well by them! They have economic security and health care. They live in rural areas where the biggest threat to their safety is their and their neighbors' arsenals of weapons. Are they happy? No!! They're filled with fear and rage about mirages - race wars, border invasions, they're basically delusional. They recognize that Trump is gross but they will vote for him because "he'll keep us safe."

[Irish_Dem]

18. Excellent comment.

I have had the same thoughts. Many of the J6 insurrectionists fall in the same demographics you describe.
On the government/corporate payroll their entire lives, health care, pension, educational benefits, etc.

Yet they are bitter and angry. When in reality they want for nothing.

I am on some European forums and some of them think that Americans are spoiled and entitled.
It is thought that Americans didn't suffer in WWII at all, like they did.

So we see Americans making up crises that don't exist, race, border, LGBT, etc.
Yes it is delusional.

Encouraged by the GOP to believe nonsense so that Americans don't notice they
are losing their democracy, or don't care.

[Botany]

12. Egg Zack Lee

This type of move by Trump and his lawyers against E. Jean Carroll cost him @
least 100 million dollars.

[machoneman]

5. A stupid filing if there ever was one. NY's narrow interpretation saves George's comments. Should get thrown out....

...in a hurry. I guess TFG wants about $500 million to settle out of court! LOL

[Marthe48]

7. If traitor has the money for yet another suit

then he ought to have money to pony up on paying what he owes the State of New York.

[Eugene]

10. So TFG's new lawyer is as dumb as Alina Habba.

Dump already lost a similar fight in his countersuit against E. Jean Carroll.
He just paid out 6 figures in legal costs to the New York Time
for yet another frivolous defamation suit, but he still persists.

[Captain Zero]

21. "Files frivolous lawsuits" is SO Presidential

Why can't we have such candidates from both parties every election?

[riversedge]

11. Here is the interview..........

Link to tweet

?s=20

[twodogsbarking]

13. Ms. Carroll was not the only one.

[cstanleytech]

14. Ummm. Donald, the case said you lied about the rape essentially so yes you were found "liable" for what you said.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

15. TFG is suing because TFG disagrees with a federal judge calling him a rapist and this comment being repeated

Link to tweet

The theory of Trump’s complaint here is that, since the jury in Carroll II, the case tried last year, unanimously found that Trump forcibly and without consent penetrated Carroll’s vagina with his fingers and not his penis, and since this constituted sexual assault and not rape as defined by the New York Penal Code, Stephanopoulos libeled him by saying he had been held liable for “rape,” even though the judge in the Carroll case has held multiple times since the verdict that in common parlance (and the law of most other jurisdictions) forcible digital penetration is rape.

In other words, Trump is suing Stephanopoulos and ABC because Stephanopoulos repeated what a federal district judge has said repeatedly in written opinions.

By bringing this lawsuit, Trump will only bring more public attention to what he did to Carroll. And he and his lawyers may very well be—in fact, ought to be—sanctioned.

Another brilliant stable-genius move.

Trump is not only a rapist, he’s a nut job, and a very, very dumb one at that.

Link to tweet

[onecaliberal]

16. Rapist sues ABC. I fixed it for you.

[Novara]

17. So he is spending money he doesn't have on frivolous lawsuits

Gosh, I'm sure it will convince the NY judge that he has no money and can't pay his $467 million (and counting) judgment.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

19. Why Trump's case against George Stephanopoulos is politically risky

Many Republican voters have no idea that Donald Trump was recently held liable for sexual abuse. The Republican's new civil suit might help change that.

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-case-george-stephanopoulos-politically-risky-rcna144064

After leaving the White House, the former president kept suing media outlets — and kept losing — though the defeats apparently haven’t deterred him. The New York Times reported:

Former President Donald J. Trump filed a defamation lawsuit against ABC News on Monday, arguing that the anchor George Stephanopoulos had harmed his reputation by saying multiple times on-air that Mr. Trump had been found liable for raping the writer E. Jean Carroll.

Stephanopoulos is also named as a co-defendant in the case.

The controversy, to the extent that one exists, began nine days ago, when Republican Rep. Nancy Mace appeared on ABC’s “This Week” and faced a difficult line of inquiry: Stephanopoulos asked the South Carolina congresswoman, who has spoken publicly about being raped as a teenager, about how she reconciles her support for rape victims with her support for Trump......

Legal experts can speak with more authority than I can about the case’s prospects — though given recent history, the former president and his followers should probably keep their expectations low — but I wonder if Team Trump appreciates the political risk it’s taking.

For one thing, there's not much of an upside for a presidential candidate to effectively argue, "I was held liable for sexual assault, not rape, even if a judge said there's little meaningful difference between the two given the details of the case."

For another, the “Streisand Effect“ keeps coming to mind.

Remember, recent polling suggests many Republican voters have no idea that Trump was recently held liable for sexual abuse. The more the former president goes after Stephanopoulos and ABC, the more likely it is that voters will hear about the case — in an election year — which is the opposite of what the presumptive GOP nominee should want.

[NanaCat]

20. Stephanopolous has truth on his side

And that's an ironclad defense against defamation.