Trump sues Stephanopoulos and ABC for defamation

If there is one thing we know about former President Donald Trump, it's that he's a mud fighter. While he's on the defense on many legal matters right now, he's going offense against ABC News' George Stephanopoulos [aka Mister Snuffalopougus] over comments he made in an interview with Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace early in March.

In the interview, Stephanopoulos tried to shame Mace for supporting Trump because she had been raped as a 16-year-old and he mischaracterized legal findings against Trump by saying that  "judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape."

This is a total lie and now Trump has filed a lawsuit for defamation against the former Clinton operative and ABC over the remarks.

Trump’s lawsuit highlights how Stephanopoulos at various points in his questioning of Mace said that Trump had been found "liable for rape." What the jury actually found was that the former President was liable for sexual abuse under New York law--not rape.

“Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming the victim of that rape. How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony we just saw, ” Stephanopoulos asked Mace.

“These statements were and remain false, and were made by Defendant Stephanopoulos with actual malice or with a reckless disregard for the truth given that Defendant Stephanopoulos knows that these statements are patently and demonstrably false,” Trump’s attorney, Alejandro Brito, wrote in the 20-page complaint.

“Indeed, the jury expressly found that Plaintiff did not commit rape and, as demonstrated below, Defendant George Stephanopoulos was aware of the jury’s finding in this regard yet still falsely stated otherwise,” Brito continued.

The 20-page complaint pleads two counts — one for defamation per se (statements automatically deemed harmful) and one for defamation per quod (statements the plaintiff must prove caused damage) — and seeks an unspecified amount of damages.

It is definitely harmful for Trump's re-election because anyone who watches the mainstream media will never be told about the mischaracterization of how Stephanopoulos lied. 

As seen in the complaint, the jury, though it found Trump liable for defamation and sexual abuse in the E. Jean Carroll suit tried first (Carroll II), declined to find him liable for rape. (The second Carroll trial involved only a claim for defamation.) And, as the complaint points out, Stephanopoulos was well aware of this, as he specifically asked Carroll about it in an interview shortly after the initial verdict in May of 2023. 

So the little man lied.

Hopefully Trump will be able to collect $500 million to cover his bond in another case waged against him. 

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