Republican Candidate for President Donald Trump attends the Building America’s Future, Southeastern Pennsylvania Roundtable at the Drexelbrook Event Center on October 29, 2024, in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania (Matt Bishop/imageSPACE/Sipa USA via AP Images).
ABC News will provide a significant amount of seed funding for Donald Trump‘s eventual presidential library as part of an agreement to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by the president-elect in Florida federal court.
In a seven-page settlement and release agreement, both parties agreed to end an acrimonious legal battle over comments star anchor George Stephanopoulos made earlier this year about the forthcoming president’s liability in New York State a civil lawsuit.
Now, ABC News is on the hook for over $15 million.
“ABC shall cause a transfer in the amount of fifteen million U.S. dollars to be made to a Presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for Plaintiff, as Presidents of the United States of America have established in the past, in full settlement and satisfaction of Plaintiff’s Released Claims,” the agreement reads.
The agreement filed Saturday goes on to note:
The Charitable Contribution shall be made by Defendants within 10 calendar days of the Effective Date of this Agreement to an escrow account to be established by Plaintiff’s counsel, who will serve as the escrow agent (the “Escrow Agent”) for this specific Charitable Contribution. Within 10 calendar days after Plaintiff or his counsel present written confirmation that the appropriate entity has been established by the Plaintiff, and its 501 (c)(3) status has been recognized by the Internal Revenue Service, Defendants shall authorize the Escrow Agent in writing to release the Charitable Contribution to the subject entity.
ABC News will also pay Trump’s attorney $1 million.
The motion outlines the following additional measures the network will take to settle the lawsuit:
Within one calendar day of the Effective Date of this Agreement, Defendants shall publicly publish the following statement by adding as an editor’s note at the bottom of the March 10, 2024 Online Article:
“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 March 10, 2024.”
The once and future president was suing because Stephanopoulos said “more than 10 times” on “This Week” in March that Trump had been found “liable for rape” in the E. Jean Carroll civil case.
The underlying lawsuit was filed just eight days after that segment — during which the anchor interviewed Rep. Nancy Mace, a Georgia Republican, and pressed her to explain her support for Trump.
The implication was never left in doubt during the broadcast: Stephanopoulos pointed out Mace herself is a rape victim and repeatedly claimed Trump had been found “liable for rape” by a jury.
The lawsuit argued ABC and Stephanopoulos defamed Trump in an article’s initial headline and during the broadcast with the claim — even though the jury verdict sheet specifically said “no” as to the rape allegation.
What complicated matters was some verbiage from a post-verdict opinion written by Senior U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan.
In a footnote, the judge wrote: “As the jury’s response to Question 2 was an implicit finding that Mr. Trump forcibly digitally penetrated Ms. Carroll’s vagina, no explicit independent finding by the Court is necessary. Nevertheless, the Court alternatively finds that he did so.”
More Law&Crime coverage: ‘No reason for any further delay’: Fed-up judge in Trump defamation case against ABC News, George Stephanopoulos refuses demand to push back trial date
But the law thrives on definitional precision.
Trump’s lawsuit argued Stephanopoulos must have known his statements were false because he has “vast experience as a journalist” and once “specifically” asked E. Jean Carroll how she felt that Trump “was not found liable for rape.” The plaintiff further alleged ABC rebuffed a retraction demand and did not apologize, only changing an article headline from “Nancy Mace defends her support Trump after he was found liable for rape” to “Nancy Mace defends her support Trump after he was found liable for sexual assault.”
The parties had battled it out in motions practice for months. Last month, Chief U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga got fed up with the state of play and declined to reschedule deadlines related to expert witnesses, discovery, mediation, and various pretrial motions.
Whatever gulf existed between various understandings about Empire State legal definitions or potential culpability for eliding them is now a moot point. As are any remaining bits of drama.
Late Friday, the Florida judge overseeing the case issued a tight series of depositions – for both the anchor and the 45th and 47th president.
Those depositions have now been swiftly canceled.
Read the full settlement agreement here.
