{"id":2307468,"date":"2024-07-24T15:13:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-24T19:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/george-stephanopoulos-cant-dismiss-trump-defamation-suit-judge-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-07-24T15:17:53","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T19:17:53","slug":"george-stephanopoulos-cant-dismiss-trump-defamation-suit-judge-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/george-stephanopoulos-cant-dismiss-trump-defamation-suit-judge-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"George Stephanopoulos can\u2019t dismiss Trump defamation suit: Judge &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgeorge-stephanopoulos-cant-dismiss-trump-defamation-suit-judge-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2307468&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>E \u200din her ruling. &#8220;The court finds that the complaint is sufficient to withstand a motion to dismiss.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Trump&#8217;s lawsuit against Stephanopoulos and ABC News stems\u2062 from an interview the former president conducted with South \u2064Carolina Rep. Nancy\u200b Mace in January, \u2064where\u200c Stephanopoulos \u200callegedly misrepresented the findings of the \u2062Manhattan jury in \u2062Carroll&#8217;s case.<\/p>\n<p>Stephanopoulos had sought \u200cto dismiss the\u2062 lawsuit, arguing that his statements \u2063were \u200cprotected by \u2063the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-refuses-cnns-motion-to-dismiss-dershowitz-defamation-lawsuit\/\" title=\"Judge Refuses CNN&#039;s Motion to Dismiss Dershowitz Defamation Lawsuit\">fair report privilege<\/a>, \u200dwhich allows journalists to \u2063accurately report on judicial proceedings without fear of \u2062defamation claims. However, Judge Altonaga \u200ddisagreed, finding that Trump&#8217;s complaint had\u200d merit and could \u200dproceed to \u2063trial.<\/p>\n<p>The decision is a blow to Stephanopoulos and\u200d ABC News, who will now have to defend themselves in court against \u200cTrump&#8217;s defamation claims. The case is\u2064 set to \u200cproceed to trial, where a jury will determine whether Stephanopoulos and ABC News are liable for defamation in their coverage of Trump&#8217;s legal troubles.<\/p>\n<p>Representatives \u2064for\u200d Stephanopoulos and \u200bABC News did not immediately respond to\u200c requests for comment on the ruling.<\/p>\n<p>This is not the\u200d first time Trump has\u2064 sued \u2063media outlets for defamation. The former president has a history of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/detransitioned-teen-chloe-cole-censored-by-instagram\/\" title=\"Instagram censors detransitioned teen Chloe Cole.\">taking legal \u2063action<\/a> against news organizations and journalists\u200d who \u2062he believes have misrepresented him or his actions. Trump has also been\u200b a vocal critic of Stephanopoulos and ABC News, accusing them of bias and \u200cunfair treatment in their coverage of \u2062his \u200cpresidency.<\/p>\n<p>The outcome of\u2062 this lawsuit could \u2062have far-reaching implications for the media industry, as it raises questions about the limits of journalistic privilege and the responsibilities of reporters when covering high-profile legal \u2063cases. \u200cThe case is likely to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-halts-new-york-ag-letitia-jamess-fraud-trial-against-trump\/\" title=\"NY Judge Halts AG Letitia James&#039;s Fraud Trial Against Trump.\">attract significant attention<\/a> from media organizations and \u200clegal experts, as it could set a precedent for how journalists report on controversial legal matters\u200c in the future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p><button onclick=\"myFunction()\" id=\"myBtn\">Read more<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">George Stephanopoulos can&rsquo;t dismiss Trump defamation suit: Judge<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1712620\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>A federal judge in Florida on Wednesday rejected an effort by ABC News host <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/george-stephanopoulos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">George Stephanopoulos<\/a> to dismiss a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/2927431\/trump-defamation-lawsuit-against-george-stephanopoulos-abc-nancy-mace-interview\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>defamation lawsuit<\/a> levied against him by former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga denied the motion to dismiss Trump&rsquo;s defamation lawsuit against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ABC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ABC News<\/a> and Stephanopoulos, who was accused of mischaracterizing a jury&rsquo;s finding that a Manhattan jury found Trump liable for sexual assault in the separate defamation case brought by former columnist E. Jean Carroll.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">E. Jean Carroll leaves Federal court, Friday, Jan 26, 2024, in New York. A jury has awarded an additional $83.3 million to Carroll, who says former President Donald Trump damaged her reputation by calling her a liar after she accused him of sexual assault. (AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;Defendants have not met their burden of proving the fair report privilege applies,&rdquo; Altonaga, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.flsd.664183\/gov.uscourts.flsd.664183.34.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>wrote<\/a> in a 21-page order. &ldquo;Any remaining questions as to the reasonableness of Stephanopoulos&rsquo;s statements are not for resolution on a motion to dismiss.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Trump&rsquo;s defamation suit stems from statements made by Stephanopoulos during a March 10, 2024, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/2913391\/nancy-mace-slams-george-stephanopoulos-shaming-me-rape-survivor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">interview<\/a> with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC). During the broadcast on <em>This Week<\/em> hosted by Stephanopoulos, he repeatedly stated Trump had been &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrat-wants-to-put-josh-hawley-and-ted-cruz-on-the-no-fly-list\/\" title=\"Democrat Wants To Put Josh Hawley And Ted Cruz On The No-Fly List\">found liable<\/a> for rape&rdquo; in connection with the Carroll case. This assertion, Trump claimed, was defamatory, because the jury did not come to that specific conclusion.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">ABC&rsquo;s Stephanopoulos: &#8220;As a rape victim&hellip; how can you endorse Trump?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Nancy Mace: &#8220;You&#8217;re asking me a question about my political choices, trying to shame me as a rape victim. And I find it disgusting.&#8221;<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/nIVDFWtYRw\">pic.twitter.com\/nIVDFWtYRw<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TVNewsNow\/status\/1766904802640793880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 10, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The background of the litigation involves two related cases, known as Carroll I and Carroll II, presided over by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in the Southern District of New York. In Carroll II, a jury found Trump liable for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/1638923\/jury-orders-trump-to-pay-5-million-in-damages-to-carroll-for-battery-and-defamation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>sexually abusing<\/a> Carroll but did not find him liable for rape under New York Penal Law. Despite this, Kaplan characterized the jury&rsquo;s finding as equivalent to rape in common parlance, leading to some confusion and ambiguity in public interpretations of the verdict.<\/p>\n<p>Trump commended the decision in a statement to Truth Social on Wednesday, calling it a &ldquo;A BIG WIN TODAY IN HIGH FLORIDA COURT AGAINST ABC FAKE NEWS, AND LIDDLE&rsquo; GEORGE SLOPADOPOLUS.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;A POWERFUL CASE! BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA WILL BE FORCED BY THE COURTS TO START TELLING THE TRUTH. THIS IS A GREAT DAY FOR OUR COUNTRY. MAGA2024,&rdquo; Trump wrote.<\/p>\n<p>In response to the allegations of defamation, ABC News and Stephanopoulos argued that the statements made during the interview were substantially true and protected by the fair report privilege, which shields journalists from some legal liability for their accurate coverage of official proceedings or documents. They contended that Kaplan&rsquo;s interpretation justified their characterization of the jury&rsquo;s findings.<\/p>\n<p>However, Altonaga found that these arguments could not be conclusively resolved at this stage of the lawsuit. She noted that while Kaplan had indeed offered an interpretation aligning the jury&rsquo;s findings with a common understanding of rape, the jury&rsquo;s explicit verdict did not support the specific language used by Stephanopoulos. This distinction, she ruled, created enough ambiguity to warrant further examination by a jury.<\/p>\n<p>In the motion to dismiss the case, the defendants argued that Kaplan&rsquo;s rulings in Carroll I and II should preclude Trump&rsquo;s current defamation claims. Altonaga disagreed, stating that the context and specific statements in the present case were sufficiently distinct from those in the Carroll cases to allow Trump&rsquo;s lawsuit to proceed.<\/p>\n<p>The fair report privilege, which protects journalists when reporting on official proceedings, was also cited by the defense. Altonaga acknowledged that while this privilege offers broad protections, it does not apply when the reporting is misleading or lacks crucial context.<\/p>\n<p>Given the possibility for Stephanopoulos&rsquo;s statements to mislead viewers about the jury&rsquo;s actual findings, she determined that this defense could not be decided at this stage.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The case will now proceed to further litigation, where both parties will have the opportunity to present their evidence and arguments in detail.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Washington Examiner <\/em>contacted ABC News for a statement.<\/p>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1712620\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1712620\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>E \u200din her ruling. &#8220;The court finds that the complaint is sufficient to withstand a motion to dismiss.&#8221; Trump&#8217;s lawsuit against Stephanopoulos and ABC News stems\u2062 from an interview the former president conducted with South \u2064Carolina Rep. Nancy\u200b Mace in January, \u2064where\u200c Stephanopoulos \u200callegedly misrepresented the findings of the \u2062Manhattan jury in \u2062Carroll&#8217;s case. Stephanopoulos &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2633,"featured_media":2307469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/AP20260041846459-scaled-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[34503,5387,36046],"class_list":["post-2307468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-george-stephanopoulos","tag-judge","tag-trump-defamation-suit"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/AP20260041846459-scaled-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2307468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2633"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2307468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2307468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2307469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2307468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2307468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2307468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}