WASHINGTON: ABC News has agreed to give US$15 million to Donald Trump’s presidential library to settle a lawsuit over comments that anchor George Stephanopoulos made on air involving the civil case brought against the US president-elect by writer E. Jean Carroll, a court document filed on Saturday (Dec 14) showed.
The lawsuit, filed on Mar 19 in a US district court in douthern Florida, accused Stephanopoulos of making the statements with malice and a disregard for the truth. It said the statements were distributed widely to third parties and repeated.
“We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing,” an ABC News spokesperson said in a statement.
The lawsuit cites a Mar 10 interview with US Representative Nancy Mace, a Republican who has spoken publicly about being raped as a teenager.
During the interview, Stephanopoulos said Trump was found liable for rape and asked her how she could endorse the candidate.
According to the settlement, ABC News must publish by Sunday a statement at the bottom of a Mar 10 online article that accompanied the interview.
“ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret statements regarding President Donald J. Trump made during an interview by George Stephanopoulos with Rep. Nancy Mace on ABC’s This Week on Mar 10, 2024,” the statement must say, according to the court document.
The broadcaster will also pay an addition US$1 million in attorney fees.
The settlement marks the latest victory in Trump’s string of legal fortune since winning the Nov 5 presidential election.
Last month, a US appeals court granted the dismissal of charges for Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents upon exiting the White House.
US Special Counsel Jack Smith also paused a second federal case regarding Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election results, although Trump faces racketeering charges over the same issue in a case out of Georgia.
And for Trump’s May conviction in the hush money case – the only criminal charges against him to go to trial – Judge Juan Merchan has indefinitely postponed sentencing.