Judge won’t dismiss Trump’s defamation suit against ABC, Stephanopoulos

A federal judge on Wednesday denied ABC News and George Stephanopoulos’s motion to dismiss former President Trump’s lawsuit claiming the anchor defamed him in a March interview.

The ruling enables Trump’s suit against the network and Stephanopoulos to move forward over the anchor repeatedly stating on-air while interviewing a lawmaker that the former president had been found “liable for rape” in a lawsuit brought by advice columnist E. Jean Carroll. The jury had found Trump liable for sexual abuse, but not rape. 

In a 21-page ruling issued on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga rejected several defenses ABC mounted to Trump’s suit, including that they were protected by a fair reporting privilege. 

Trump cast the ruling as a “big win,” calling the anchor “liddle’ George Slopadopolus” in a post on Truth Social.

“Before you know it, the fake news media will be forced by the courts to start telling the truth,” Trump wrote. 

Trump’s defamation claims concern Stephanopoulos’s March 10 interview of Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) on “This Week.” While questioning the congresswoman about her endorsement of Trump, Stephanopoulos stated 10 times that a jury had found Trump liable for rape. 

The federal lawsuit, filed in Miami, seeks an unspecified amount of damages.

Much of the network’s defense relied upon a ruling by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, an appointee of former President Clinton who who oversaw Carroll’s trials against the former president.

Though the jury didn’t find Trump liable for rape under New York’s definition, Kaplan rejected Trump’s claims that Carroll was defaming him by continuing to describe it as that, saying the legal distinction “is minimal.” 

ABC and Stephanopoulos claimed that ruling binds Trump’s new lawsuit. But the judge on Wednesday denied the argument, also indicating it remained unclear if the anchor’s statements were substantially true. 

“Here, of course, New York has opted to separate out a crime of rape; and Stephanopoulos’s statements dealt not with the public’s usage of that term, but the jury’s consideration of it during a formal legal proceeding,” Altonaga, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, wrote in her ruling. 

The decision enables the case to move into the discovery process and closer to trial. 

“Once again, the Court does not find that a reasonable jury must — or even is likely to — conclude Stephanopoulos’s statements were defamatory,” Altonaga wrote. 

“A jury may, upon viewing the segment, find there was sufficient context,” she continued. “A jury may also conclude Plaintiff fails to establish other elements of his claim … But a reasonable jury could conclude Plaintiff was defamed and, as a result, dismissal is inappropriate.” 

The Hill has reached out to ABC News for comment.