ABC News Settles Defamation Suit with Trump to Avoid Embarrassing Discovery, Legal Experts Say
Legal experts believe ABC News made a wise decision to settle the defamation lawsuit with Donald Trump to avoid potentially damaging and embarrassing discoveries. The lawsuit was filed by Trump after George Stephanopoulos, an ABC anchor, made inaccurate on-air assertions during a March 10 segment on his "This Week" program. Stephanopoulos incorrectly claimed that Trump had been found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll, which was not the case under New York law.
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The settlement involved ABC News agreeing to pay $15 million to Trump's presidential library and an additional $1 million in legal fees to Trump's attorney, Alejandro Brito. This decision was seen as prudent by legal experts because it allowed ABC to avoid the potentially embarrassing process of depositions, where Trump and Stephanopoulos would have had to provide sworn testimony. Such a process could have revealed sensitive information or internal communications at ABC News, which might have been damaging to the network's reputation.Moreover, the settlement was described as a "charitable contribution" to the yet-to-be-built Trump library, which helped frame the payment in a more positive light. This move was seen by some media pundits as setting an unfavorable precedent, with concerns that it could encourage other high-profile figures to sue news outlets for defamation. However, from a legal perspective, avoiding the potential fallout from a prolonged legal battle and the embarrassing discovery process was considered a wise strategic move by ABC News.
