Donald Trump is suing ABC News and George Stephanopoulos for defamation after the TV host repeatedly said the former president had been convicted of rape.
The suit follows a controversial interview with Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, a rape survivor, in which Stephanopoulos asked her, “Why are you supporting someone who has been convicted of rape?”
The complaint, filed Monday, says the anchor of ABC’s Sunday morning news show “repeatedly falsely stated that Plaintiff had been found liable by multiple juries for the rape of Ms. E. Jean Carroll.”
Trump’s lawyers accused Stephanopoulos of making the statements with “malice” and disregard for the truth.
“Plaintiff has suffered and will continue to suffer harm as a direct result of Defendant’s conduct,” they wrote.
Donald Trump is suing ABC News and George Stephanopoulos after the TV host repeatedly said the former president was convicted of rape.
In the interview, Republican Rep. Nancy Mace accused Stephanopoulos of trying to “shame” and “intimidate” her when the ABC anchor asked why she supported Trump.
Trump is already embroiled in a series of lawsuits and four criminal cases even as he campaigns to return to the White House in November’s presidential election.
In May, a New York jury ordered Trump to pay $5 million in damages for sexually abusing Carroll in the 1990s and then defaming her by calling her a liar.
In a second defamation lawsuit filed by Carroll, Trump was ordered to pay $83.3 million. Trump appeals.
Last year, his lawyers tried to argue that his damages request was excessive because a jury found he did not rape her.
But we District Judge Lewis Kaplan of Manhattan rejected that argument, saying the jury was acting on a very narrow and legalistic definition of the term “rape.”
“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 failed to prove that Mr. Trump was “raped,” as many people generally understand the word “rape,” he wrote in a 59-page decision.
“Indeed, as the evidence presented at trial below makes clear, the jury found that Mr. Trump did indeed do just that.”
In their complaint, Trump’s lawyers say: “Indeed, the jury expressly found that plaintiff did not commit rape…”
And they point out that the 10-minute interview segment opened with questions about rape.
“Given that this was the first question on the interview, combined with the intensity and persistence of Stephanopoulos’ questioning of an actual rape victim, it was clear that Stephanopoulos had the malicious intent to convince its viewers of a falsehood, that is, that the complainant had been convicted of rape,” they wrote.
In their complaint, Trump’s lawyers state: “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, but nevertheless falsely stated to the contrary”.
“You are trying to shame me for my political choice,” Mace told Stephanopoulos. “It was not a criminal court”
ABC News said it had no comment on the lawsuit.
The March 10 interview had already made headlines after Stephanopoulos repeatedly pressed Mace, who has spoken publicly about her rape as a teenager, about how she could support Trump.
In return, she accused him of trying to shame and intimidate her.
Stephanopoulos said: “I’m asking you a question about why you support someone who has been convicted of rape.”
“It wasn’t a criminal court,” she replied. “It was a civil court and, in passing, she joked about the judgment and what she was going to do with all that money. I find that offensive.
“As a rape victim, who has been humiliated for years because of her rape. You’re still trying to shame me.
The South Carolina Republican endorsed Trump in January, and the former president returned the favor this month.