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Trump is suing ABC News and George Stephanopoulos for defamation. Here’s what to know about his claim.
Former President Donald Trump on Monday sued ABC, ABC News and host George Stephanopoulos, claiming comments made by Stephanopoulos during a recent interview were defamatory.
In the interview, Stephanopoulos asked Rep. Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican, about the two juries that awarded the writer E. Jean Carroll a combined $88.3 million in damages stemming from her claim that Trump sexually abused her decades ago and committed defamation in denying the attack.
What did Stephanopoulos say?
During a March 10 interview with Mace, Stephanopoulos said, “Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape,” among other references to Trump being “found liable for rape.”
What is Trump alleging in his lawsuit?
In Trump’s complaint, he accuses Stephanopoulos of acting “with actual malice or with a reckless disregard for the truth,” and claims that Stephanopoulos “knows that these statements are patently and demonstrably false.”
In order to prove defamation of a public figure, Trump must prove not just that the statement was incorrect, but that Stephanopoulos met the heightened standard of actual malice, showing that he had knowledge the statements were false or acted with reckless disregard of whether they were false or not. Trump has to prove actual malice by “clear and convincing evidence.” He also must show that Stephanopoulos harmed his reputation.
Did a jury find Trump liable for rape?
No. In May 2023, a jury in New York declined to find Trump liable for rape, but did find him liable for sexual abuse of the writer E. Jean Carroll.
Did a judge find Trump liable for rape?
No. However, the judge presiding over the trial wrote in an August 2023 order that the sexual abuse Trump was found liable for — forcibly penetrating Carroll with his fingers during a mid-1990s assault — means “Mr. Trump in fact did ‘rape’ Ms. Carroll as that term commonly is used and understood.”
Why did the judge say Trump “in fact did ‘rape'” Carroll?
Carroll sued in November 2022 under New York State’s Adult Survivors Act, which for a one-year period eliminated the state’s statute of limitations for sexual assault claims. Her suit was filed in federal court but made claims under New York’s penal code, which has a narrower definition of rape than the federal standard. The jury found that Carroll did not prove Trump forcibly penetrated her with his penis, but did prove it was “more likely true than not” that he sexually abused her by forcibly inserting his fingers.
In a July 2023 ruling after the jury’s verdict, Kaplan wrote that the sexual abuse finding was in keeping with how “many people commonly understand the word ‘rape.'” Kaplan highlighted the Justice Department’s definition of rape — the federal standard: “The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”
“The jury found that Mr. Trump in fact did exactly that,” Kaplan wrote.
In the August 2023 order, the judge went further, writing “Mr. Trump in fact did ‘rape’ Ms. Carroll as that term commonly is used and understood.”
Wasn’t Trump found liable for defamation related to Carroll’s claims?
Yes, twice. The jury that unanimously found Trump liable for sexual abuse in May 2023 also found him liable for defamation in connection with statements he made denying Carroll’s allegations. It awarded Carroll $5 million.
In January, another federal jury unanimously found Trump liable for defamation in connection with a separate set of statements he made again denying the allegations. During that trial, Carroll’s lawyers highlighted additional denials made by Trump in the months since the first verdict, asking the jury to award Carroll enough money to “make him stop.” The jury awarded her $83.3 million.
ABC News declined to comment on Trump’s lawsuit, in which Trump is seeking unspecified damages. Trump continues to deny Carroll’s allegations and is appealing the juries’ verdicts.
TRENTON, N.J. — Democratic Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver has defeated Republican small businessman Carmen Bucco in a contest in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District that opened up because of the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. in April.
McIver will serve out the remainder of Payne’s term, which ends in January. She and Bucco will face a rematch on the November ballot for the full term.
McIver said in a statement Wednesday that she stands on the “shoulders of giants,” naming Payne as chief among them.
She cast ahead to the November election, saying the right to make reproductive health choices was on the ballot as well as whether the economy should benefit the wealthy or “hard working Americans.”
“I will fight because the purpose of politics and the purpose of our vote is to give the people of our communities and our nation a bold voice,” she said.
Bucco congratulated McIver on the victory in a statement but said he’s looking forward to the rematch in November.
“I am not going anywhere,” he said in an email. “We still have a second chance to make district 10 great again!”
Who are LaMonica McIver and Carmen Bucco?
McIver emerged as the Democratic candidate in a crowded field in the July special election. A member of the city council of New Jersey’s biggest city since 2018, she also worked for Montclair Public Schools as a personnel director and plans to focus on affordability, infrastructure, abortion rights and “protecting our democracy,” she told The Associated Press earlier this summer.
Bucco describes himself on his campaign website as a small-business owner influenced by his upbringing in the foster system. He lists support for law enforcement and ending corruption as top issues.
The 10th District lies in a heavily Democratic and majority-Black region of northern New Jersey. Republicans are outnumbered by more than 6 to 1.
It’s been a volatile year for Democrats in New Jersey, where the party dominates state government and the congressional delegation.
Among the developments were the conviction on federal bribery charges of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, who has denied the charges, and the demise of the so-called county party line — a system in which local political leaders give their preferred candidates favorable position on the primary ballot.
Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, who’s running for Menendez’s seat, and other Democrats brought a federal lawsuit challenging the practice as part of his campaign to oust Menendez, who has resigned since his conviction.
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Sean “Diddy” Combs at same Brooklyn detention center that held R. Kelly, Sam Bankman-Fried, other high-profile inmates
A second judge refused to grant bail to Sean “Diddy” Combs on Wednesday and he could remain in federal custody at a Brooklyn detention center until his trial for sex trafficking charges. Combs joins other high-profile inmates, such as singer R. Kelly, fallen cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried, rapper Ja Rule —even Al Sharpton served a brief stint— who were held at the same federal detention center.
Notorious for its horrible conditions —inmates won a $10 million class action settlement after enduring frigid conditions during an 8-day blackout in 2019— the waterfront industrial complex, MDC Brooklyn, houses 1,200 inmates.
JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images
Violence and corruption have long plagued the facility; U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown of the Eastern District of New York wrote the detention center had “dangerous, barbaric conditions” in a recent sentencing opinion. Two inmates were stabbed to death in recent months and several correction officers have been convicted for smuggling contraband and accepting bribes.
Combs joins a list of high-profile personalities that have landed at the MDC Brooklyn, partly because the city’s other federal detention center, MDC New York, closed in 2021, also due to horrible conditions. The disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide in his cell there in 2019. “Numerous and serious” instances of misconduct among corrections staff gave Epstein the opportunity to kill himself, a subsequent federal watchdog investigation found.
Kelly sued the federal detention center in 2022 for wrongly putting him on suicide watch after his sentencing. Kelly sought $100 million because he said the detention center knew he wasn’t suicidal after he was convicted in 2021 for racketeering and violating the Mann Act, which bars transporting people across state lines for prostitution.
Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Former crypto billionaire Bankman-Fried survived on bread, water and sometimes peanut butter when he was in the MDC Brooklyn, his attorney said, because the detention center continued to serve him a “flesh diet” despite requests for vegan dishes.
Ja Rule stayed at the MDC Brooklyn for a brief time before being released after serving most of his two-year sentence for illegal gun possession. Most of his prison time was spent in a state prison in New York.
Sharpton served a 90-day sentence in 2001 and went on a hunger strike for protesting the U.S. Navy bombing of the island of Vieques, in Puerto Rico.
Combs was taken into custody on Monday and according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday he was charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution.
His attorney Marc Agnifilo told CBS News, “It’s impossible to prepare for a trial from where he is,” after a first federal judge denied Combs bail on Tuesday.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky agreed with prosecutors who argued the hip-hop mogul, who is accused of using his business empire as a criminal enterprise to conceal his alleged abuse of women, is a flight risk and poses an ongoing threat to the safety of the community.
Agnifilo said the part of the detention center where Combs is being held is “a very difficult place to be.”
contributed to this report.
