ABC has agreed to contribute $15 million to Donald Trump's presidential foundation and museum as part of a settlement reached in Trump's defamation lawsuit against the network, according to a lawsuit filed today.
Trump sued the network earlier this year over comments about it This week anchor George Stephanopoulos made during a controversial interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) in March.
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The network will also release a statement to be added to an online article about the show, saying that “ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret statements about President Donald J. Trump made during an interview by George Stephanopoulos with Representative Nancy Mace on ABC's This Week on March 10, 2024.”
The network will also pay $1 million to Brito, PLLC, the law firm representing Trump.
During the interview with Mace, Stephanopoulos said that “juries have found Trump “responsible for rape.” In a June ruling, a federal judge declined to dismiss the case, handing Trump a legal victory.
Last year, a civil jury found Trump liable for sexually assaulting and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll. Trump claimed he was being defamed because Stephanopoulos failed to make the distinction.
The judge in Carroll's case, Lewis Kaplan, wrote in a later ruling: “The finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was 'raped' within the meaning of New York criminal law does not mean that she was failed to prove that Mr. Trump “raped” her, as many people commonly understand the word “rape.” As the trial evidence set forth below makes clear, the jury found that Mr. Trump in fact did just that.”
Trump is appealing jury verdicts in the Carroll civil case, in which juries awarded her nearly $90 million in damages.
The settlement comes a day after a magistrate judge ordered Trump and Stephanopoulos to give depositions next week.
The settlement agreement was signed by Trump; ABC executive Debra O'Connell, who oversees the newsgroup; and Stephanopoulos.
“ABC will cause to be transferred the sum of Fifteen Million Dollars (USD $15,000,000) (the “Charitable Contribution”) to a presidential foundation and a museum to be established by or for the Claimant, such as the Presidents of the United States of America have done. in the past, in full settlement and satisfaction of Plaintiff's Released Claims, as defined in Section 5(A) of this Agreement,” the settlement filing states. The contribution must be made within 10 days of the effective date of the agreement and deposited into an escrow account established by Trump's attorneys, who will serve as escrow agents for the specific contribution. Within ten days after Trump or his attorney submits written confirmation that the entity has been formed and its 501 (c)(3) status has been determined by the IRS, ABC will authorize the escrow agent in writing to release the contribution to the IRS. foundation.
There's more to come.
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