"Trump is suing Stephanopoulos and ABC because Stephanopoulos repeated what a federal district judge has said repeatedly

[kpete]

Trump Sues ABC News and George Stephanopoulos
March 19, 2024 at 8:31 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 48 Comments

Donald Trump sued ABC News and George Stephanopoulos for defamation over the anchor’s interview of Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) in which he said a judge found Trump had “raped” writer E. Jean Carroll.

George Conway: The theory of Trump’s complaint here is that, since the jury in Carroll II, the case tried last year, unanimously found that Trump forcibly and without consent penetrated Carroll’s vagina with his fingers and not his penis, and since this constituted sexual assault and not rape as defined by the New York Penal Code, Stephanopoulos libeled him by saying he had been held liable for “rape,” even though the judge in the Carroll case has held multiple times since the verdict that in common parlance (and the law of most other jurisdictions) forcible digital penetration is rape.

In other words, Trump is suing Stephanopoulos and ABC because Stephanopoulos repeated what a federal district judge has said repeatedly in written opinions.

By bringing this lawsuit, Trump will only bring more public attention to what he did to Carroll. And he and his lawyers may very well be—in fact, ought to be—sanctioned.

Another brilliant stable-genius move.

Trump is not only a rapist, he’s a nut job, and a very, very dumb one at that.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

/history

[Johonny]

1. I welcome another trial where we talk about

Trump as a rapist because he raped women.

[Scrivener7]

2. Yep. Bring on the Barbra Streisand effect.

[Hugin]

5. It also brings up how rapey he is. n/t

[underpants]

9. I do too.

[Lonestarblue]

3. Totally stupid move. And how does Trump have the money for even more lawyers and lawsuits?

I’m hoping that March 25 becomes his personal humiliation as his business assets get taken.

[Hugin]

7. It's okay, the RNC will pick up the tab...

Or some front company.

[NanaCat]

16. You could afford his lawyers too

First of all, lawyers are far cheaper than most settlements for someone like him. Think of it this way: He hired some schmuck to do a job installing, say, some tile floors at Fart-a-Lardo. Installer charges him $400K. He stiffs the installer for both the product and his labour. Then the schmuck sues him, and he hires some hack lawyers to bury the poor sod in endless motions and delays and appeals until said poor sod gives up because it's bankrupting him to try to recoup his losses. And then TSF stiffs the lawyers, probably out of $50K-100K in billable hours.

So he's gotten $450K-$500K in goods and services for nothing. Guess what that adds up to?

Only now is he finding it difficult to get decent lawyers, now that the courts aren't ruling in his favour anymore and lawyers are on to his sleazeball tactics.

Second: If you hired a bunch of Tier-3 hacks, you could afford a bunch of lawyers, too! These parking garage lawyers are just dumb and/or desperate enough to take him on without a retainer up front, and we all know what that means: Another edition of TSF's Stiffed Lawyers.

Third: He wasn't the one paying the rare decent lawyers he managed to land between 2017 and the official launch of his campaign. The RNC did that, and they're definitely going to start paying for the lawyers again, now that his lackey is in charge over there.

That's why and how he's been able to afford them.

[Hugin]

4. George Longname should counter sue...

But, I don’t know if he collects judgements that will never be paid. I guess he could hang it on the wall in the study like some do with the stock certificates for defunct companies as a conversation piece. It’s really not that rare and getting less rare lately. I’d give it a value of $1.98, Bob.

[Lovie777]

6. 1st amendment under shithole will be only for him...................

tyrant and hater he is.

[FeelingBlue]

8. Looking forward to...

the moment when Trump realizes there’s the discovery process.

[Sanity Claws]

10. Who is paying the attorney?

Beyond me how anyone would represent him, especially now when he clearly does not have any money.

[Blue Owl]

11. At this point tRump is just reaching in his diaper and throwing tiny fistfuls of his own feces

[Emile]

12. How can he find a lawyer willing to work free on

a frivolous lawsuit?

[Happy Hoosier]

13. Never interrupt an enemy when they are making a mistake.

If Trump wants to publically talk more about how a jury found that he had committed sexual assault against E.Jean Carrol, we should welcome that.

And in the end, it'll cost him and his rube supporters another pile of mmoney they do not have.

[limbicnuminousity]

14. Considering the quality of representation he received from Alina Habba

I wonder what qualifications any lawyer willing to work for him will have when he's a half billion down?

[Ping Tung]

15. He always tries to transform himself from perpetrator to victim.

"It's not my fault you left your purse on the counter with money in it Mom."

"Ir's nor my fault she was carrying something around I wanted to grag"

[LetMyPeopleVote]

17. This lawsuit is dumb

Link to tweet

The theory of Trump’s complaint here is that, since the jury in Carroll II, the case tried last year, unanimously found that Trump forcibly and without consent penetrated Carroll’s vagina with his fingers and not his penis, and since this constituted sexual assault and not rape as defined by the New York Penal Code, Stephanopoulos libeled him by saying he had been held liable for “rape,” even though the judge in the Carroll case has held multiple times since the verdict that in common parlance (and the law of most other jurisdictions) forcible digital penetration is rape.

In other words, Trump is suing Stephanopoulos and ABC because Stephanopoulos repeated what a federal district judge has said repeatedly in written opinions.

By bringing this lawsuit, Trump will only bring more public attention to what he did to Carroll. And he and his lawyers may very well be—in fact, ought to be—sanctioned.

Another brilliant stable-genius move.

Trump is not only a rapist, he’s a nut job, and a very, very dumb one at that.

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

18. Why Trump's case against George Stephanopoulos is politically risky

Last edited Wed Mar 20, 2024, 12:33 AM - Edit history (1)

Many Republican voters have no idea that Donald Trump was recently held liable for sexual abuse. The Republican's new civil suit might help change that.

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-case-george-stephanopoulos-politically-risky-rcna144064

After leaving the White House, the former president kept suing media outlets — and kept losing — though the defeats apparently haven’t deterred him. The New York Times reported:

Former President Donald J. Trump filed a defamation lawsuit against ABC News on Monday, arguing that the anchor George Stephanopoulos had harmed his reputation by saying multiple times on-air that Mr. Trump had been found liable for raping the writer E. Jean Carroll.

Stephanopoulos is also named as a co-defendant in the case.

The controversy, to the extent that one exists, began nine days ago, when Republican Rep. Nancy Mace appeared on ABC’s “This Week” and faced a difficult line of inquiry: Stephanopoulos asked the South Carolina congresswoman, who has spoken publicly about being raped as a teenager, about how she reconciles her support for rape victims with her support for Trump......

Legal experts can speak with more authority than I can about the case’s prospects — though given recent history, the former president and his followers should probably keep their expectations low — but I wonder if Team Trump appreciates the political risk it’s taking.

For one thing, there's not much of an upside for a presidential candidate to effectively argue, "I was held liable for sexual assault, not rape, even if a judge said there's little meaningful difference between the two given the details of the case."

For another, the “Streisand Effect“ keeps coming to mind.

Remember, recent polling suggests many Republican voters have no idea that Trump was recently held liable for sexual abuse. The more the former president goes after Stephanopoulos and ABC, the more likely it is that voters will hear about the case — in an election year — which is the opposite of what the presumptive GOP nominee should want.