A federal judge on Wednesday rejected efforts by ABC to throw out a defamation suit filed by former President Donald Trump.
The suit stemmed from a March interview by George Stephanopoulos in which he asked Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina about supporting Trump after he was found “liable for rape” in a civil case brought by E. Jean Carroll, according to The Hill.
Trump, who denied all of Carroll’s claims, was found liable for sexual abuse.
A ruling from U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, scuttled ABC’s efforts to dismiss the suit. Altonaga did not rule on the case, only ABC’s motion to dismiss it.
The ruling said that “a reasonable jury could interpret Stephanopoulos’s statements as defamatory.”
“Stephanopoulos’s exchange with Mace lasted about ten minutes, during which Stephanopoulos stated ten times that a jury — or juries — had found Plaintiff liable for rape,” Altonaga wrote.
“In fact, of course, the Carroll II jury did not find Plaintiff liable for rape under New York Penal Law,” she wrote.
“Here, a reasonable viewer — especially one who was aware that Plaintiff had been charged with rape under New York Penal Law — could have been misled by Stephanopoulos’s statements,” she wrote.
Although Carroll was allowed by a judge to use the phrase “rape,” for her experience, Altonaga said the same rule did not hold true for ABC.
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“Plaintiff’s defamation claims in this case arise from Stephanopoulos’s statements, which were not the same as, or even similar to Carroll’s. Where Carroll reiterated and relayed her own experience, Stephanopoulos represented that he was describing the jury’s verdict (or verdicts),” the ruling said.
“The Court thus cannot definitively say it was substantially true to report on the (single) jury’s verdict in Carroll II — which did not find Plaintiff liable for rape as that term is defined under New York law — as finding Plaintiff liable for rape,” the ruling said.
The ruling said Florida law allowing fair reporting privilege will not protect ABC.
Altonaga said the “privilege does not protect media where the omission of important context renders a report misleading.”
In sum, she wrote, “a reasonable jury could conclude Plaintiff was defamed and as a result, dismissal is inappropriate.”
In a Truth Social post, Trump celebrated the ruling.
“A BIG WIN TODAY IN HIGH FLORIDA COURT AGAINST ABC FAKE NEWS, AND LIDDLE’ GEORGE SLOPADOPOLUS,” he wrote.
“A POWERFUL CASE! BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA WILL BE FORCED BY THE COURTS TO START TELLING THE TRUTH. THIS IS A GREAT DAY FOR OUR COUNTRY. MAGA2024!” Trump wrote.
