December 15th 2024.
The recent settlement between ABC News and Donald Trump has been making headlines, as the network has agreed to pay $15 million towards the president's future library. This settlement comes after a defamation lawsuit was filed over an inaccurate statement made by anchor George Stephanopoulos during a March 10th segment on his show, "This Week". Stephanopoulos had wrongly asserted that Trump had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll, leading to the lawsuit.
In addition to the monetary settlement, ABC News has also posted an editor's note expressing regret for Stephanopoulos' statements and will pay $1 million in legal fees to Trump's attorney, Alejandro Brito. The $15 million payment is labeled as a "charitable contribution" and will go towards a non-profit organization connected to Trump's future library. ABC News spokesperson Jeannie Kedas stated, "We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing."
The settlement agreement was signed by both parties on Friday, the same day that a Florida federal judge ordered Trump and Stephanopoulos to sit for separate depositions in the case next week. However, with the settlement, sworn testimony is no longer required. The agreement was signed by Trump, Stephanopoulos, and ABC News Group and Disney Entertainment Networks president Debra OConnell.
According to the agreement, ABC News must transfer the $15 million for Trump's library to an escrow account managed by Brito's law firm within 10 days. They must also pay Brito's legal fees within the same time frame. While this may seem like a large sum, it is likely only a fraction of the total cost of Trump's presidential library. For example, former President Barack Obama's library in Chicago was estimated to cost $830 million as of 2021.
The lawsuit was filed by Trump in federal court in Miami just days after ABC aired the segment in question. During the interview with Rep. Nancy Mace, Stephanopoulos inaccurately stated that Trump had been "found liable for rape" and "defaming the victim of that rape." However, neither of Carroll's lawsuits against Trump involved a finding of rape as defined under New York law. One of the lawsuits resulted in a $5 million judgment against Trump, while the other ordered him to pay Carroll $83.3 million.
Carroll, a former advice columnist, went public in a 2019 memoir with her allegation that Trump raped her in the mid-1990s at a luxury Manhattan department store. Trump has denied her claim and is appealing both verdicts. In upholding the $5 million judgment, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan clarified that the jury had found that Trump did commit the act of rape, but it did not meet the narrow legal definition of rape under New York law.
Overall, this settlement marks the end of a lengthy and contentious legal battle between Trump and ABC News. While the network has agreed to pay a significant sum towards his future presidential library, it is clear that the cost of such a project will far exceed this amount. As for the defamation lawsuit, both parties have come to an agreement and the case has been dismissed.
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