ABC to pay Trump $15M in defamation suit settlement

ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos reached a settlement with President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday, with the network agreeing to issue an apology and pay a Trump-related foundation $15 million in addition to $1 million for Trump’s attorney fees.

The settlement, filed in federal court in Miami Saturday afternoon, marks a win for Trump, who sued the network and its star anchor for libel after Stephanopoulos said on air that Trump was found liable for the rape of writer E. Jean Carroll. Last year, a jury hearing a civil suit brought by Carroll found that Trump sexually abused and defamed her, but found Trump not liable for rape. Still, a federal judge in New York later ruled that it was accurate to say that Trump was found liable for rape in “common modern parlance.”

According to the settlement, first reported by Fox News, ABC News must append an editor’s note expressing “regret” to the online article in which Stephanopoulos’ televised comments appear.

“We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing,” an ABC News spokesperson said on Saturday.

The settlement comes after a federal magistrate judge on Friday ordered Trump and Stephanopoulos to sit for four-hour depositions next week.

Trump’s suit against ABC and Stephanopoulos is just one in a series of cases the president-elect has filed against media organizations and his political opponents. During his bid for president, Trump used the stack of cases to boost his campaign’s visibility and advance a narrative that his perceived enemies unfairly target him. Now that he’s successfully clinched a return to the White House, any open cases could pose a problem as Trump could be called to provide sworn testimony and hand over related documents.