Left: Donald Trump (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File). Right: ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “This Week,” March 10, 2024 (ABC News/screengrab).
A federal judge on Friday finally pulled out the remaining stops and ordered a quick series of depositions in a contentious defamation case involving ABC News and President-elect Donald Trump.
In a terse, two-page order, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida ordered star anchor George Stephanopoulos to sit down and answer questions under oath and in person. Notably, the judge also ordered the 45th and 47th president to do the same.
And, those depositions must occur sometime next week.
The once and future president is 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 upshot of the Carroll lawsuit, however, is unclear.
The lawsuit argues that 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.”
Under New York law, forcible digital penetration does not qualify as rape, the judge explained. But, he added that “far narrower” definition conflicts with the “common modern parlance.”
“The finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was ‘raped’ within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape,”” Kaplan wrote. “Indeed, as the evidence at trial recounted below makes clear, the jury found that Mr. Trump in fact did exactly that.”
Still, law thrives on definitional precision.
The parties have 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.
Currently, the trial is slated to begin on April 7, 2025, and is anticipated to last between three to five days.
In her latest order, the judge ordered depositions for both men “be scheduled to take place the week of December 16, 2024.”
Each deposition will be limited to four hours.
Additionally, the court ordered ABC News to provide “all remaining documents (if any) related to Plaintiff’s damages, for review by Plaintiff’s damages expert” by Dec. 15.
Altonaga warned ABC News and Trump that she would not countenance any further efforts at pushing things back from either side.
“The parties are reminded that the Court ‘has already granted a lengthy discovery period . . . and, with Election Day now behind us, there is no reason for any further delay,’” the order concludes — quoting her own November order. “The parties shall continue to meet and confer regarding their remaining discovery disputes.”
