Content warning: certain details in this story are disturbing. Reader discretion is advised.
In a move that startled some legal experts and media watchers, ABC News agreed to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Donald Trump, who objected to the characterization that he was “found liable for raping” author E. Jean Carroll.
Trump’s complaint hinged on the definition of the word “rape”—and that using the word on-air was defamatory according to New York State law. However, per Rolling Stone, in July 2023 New York Judge Lewis Kaplan, in dismissing Trump’s effort to lessen penalties awarded to Carroll, clarified what the public should conclude about Trump’s conduct.
‘Rape’ in New York is narrowly defined as non-consensual vaginal penetration by a penis, and all other forceful acts of sexual assault are referred to as ‘sexual abuse.’ ‘The finding that Ms. Carroll failed 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,’ Kaplan wrote in the July ruling. ‘Indeed, as the evidence at trial recounted below makes clear, the jury found that Mr. Trump in fact did exactly that,’ Kaplan added.
In a March 2024 broadcast of “This Week,” while anchor George Stephanopoulos was in the midst of a contentious interview with Nancy Mace, the anchor repeatedly stated Trump had been “found liable” for raping Carroll. From Brian Stelter at CNN: “The lawsuit stemmed from a March 10, 2024, ABC segment in which Stephanopoulos repeatedly said that Trump had been ‘found liable for rape’ in the E. Jean Carroll civil case. Trump has denied all wrongdoing toward Carroll, but last year a jury found that Trump sexually abused Carroll, sufficient to hold him liable for battery, though it did not find that Carroll proved he raped her.”
Despite Kaplan’s statement and many legal pundits saying it was a frivolous case, ABC settled with Trump just before discovery was set to begin.
AUTHOR FOOTNOTE
First of all, let’s address the elephant in the room: nothing good comes from interviewing Nancy freakin’ Mace. Miss Lady actively makes cable- and television-news viewers dumber. Glad I could clear that up.
I’m not a lawyer (applied to law school in 1992 and flunked LSATs because, well, hi, famously terrible test taker here) but watch legal developments closely. The linchpin in this case was Chief U.S. Judge in Southern District of Florida, Cecilia M. Altonaga (a Dubya Bush appointee, by the by), rejecting ABC News attorneys’ assertion that Stephanopoulos’ statements were “substantially” true. Independent‘s Justin Baragona (whose piece is worth your time; linked below) takes it from here:
When the suit was set for trial, ABC News was subjected to pre-trial discovery, which would give the Trump legal team access to Stephanopoulos’ work emails, other communications and relevant materials from the network. Earlier this month, the judge ruled that ABC needed to hand over all remaining documents to Trump’s lawyers. The judge also said that the president-elect and the ABC News anchor needed to be deposed soon. Days after the judge’s ruling, ABC News reached a settlement and issued an apology to Trump.
The dynamic created by Judge Altonaga’s decision apparently hastened Mouse House’s (Disney, ABC’s parent company) ultimate calculation, because, one would understandably surmise, opening up a corporate behemoth’s comms and other internal workings to a mobster and his mafia was too much for Disney’s C-Suite to bear.
I’ll probably write about this separately at a later date, but here’s the crux of the problem as I see it: news should not be put to the profit motive—nor should it be held in abeyance, according to the whims of skittish Corporate Overlords. This “capitulation” is exactly that, and sets a truly terrible precedent right before Trump oozes back in (Kremlin West’s) White House.
Justin Baragona again:
The president-elect and his allies, who have spent the past few years labeling the press the ‘enemy of the people,’ are feeling particularly emboldened following ABC News’ capitulation. The incoming president has since filed another defamation lawsuit over a pre-election poll that was unfavorable to him, and his former chief strategist Steve Bannon is calling for the ‘incarceration’ of media figures.
Give a mobster an inch, and his goons will drive a semitruck through it. One of our primary missions during the forthcoming “Fascist Funhouse: Part Deux” is to put up a robust rebellion against those (Trump, Musk, Thiel, everyone else) who declared holy fatwa on newsgathering. I believe the future of journalism is the Public Benefit Corporation model, a la Bluesky, particularly after Disney (and Comcast, after spinning off the MSNBC brand so hastily they called it “Spin Co”) folded, or “Obeyed in Advance,” in such a feckless manner.
