From the July 24 opinion by Chief Judge Cecilia Altonaga (S.D. Fla.) that led to ABC's $15M (plus $1M in attorney fees plus an editor's note) settlement filed today:
On March 10, 2024, Stephanopoulos interviewed United States Representative Nancy Mace; ABC and ABC News broadcast the interview as part of the show This Week with George Stephanopoulos. In the interview, Stephanopoulos asked Mace about her endorsement of Plaintiff despite the fact he was "found liable for rape" [in E. Jean Carroll's civil case against him]. He repeated the phrase ten times during the interview, at one point stating "[j]udges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape," and "[t]he Judge affirmed that it was, in fact, rape." A screenshot of a newspaper headline stating that "Judge clarifies: Yes, Trump was found to have raped E. Jean Carroll[,]" was shown near the end of the broadcast….
Trump sued, arguing that the jury had concluded he had not committed rape but had only committed sexual abuse; ABC argued that, in context, the jury in Carroll v. Trump must have concluded he committed digital penetration, which is a form of rape or in any event tantamount to rape. But Chief Judge Altonaga disagreed:
