The Daily Fuckup

ABC News agreed on Dec. 14, 2024, to settle Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit over George Stephanopoulos’ on-air claim that Trump had been found liable for rape. Under the agreement, ABC will pay $15 million toward Trump’s future presidential library and $1 million in legal fees, and the case ends before any trial or ruling on the merits in this lawsuit. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/04aea8663310af39ae2a85f4c1a56d68?utm_source=openai))

The underlying factual problem was simpler than the rhetoric around it. In E. Jean Carroll’s civil case, a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation. It did not find him liable for rape under New York’s legal definition. That distinction mattered in the ABC dispute because Stephanopoulos’ statement collapsed the verdict into something the jury did not actually decide. ([npr.org](https://www.npr.org/2023/05/09/1174975870/trump-carroll-verdict?utm_source=openai))

The settlement gives Trump something he will plainly try to use as a political and media weapon: a large number, a prominent defendant, and no trial record that cuts against him. But the public documents do not turn the deal into a courtroom vindication. ABC settled a defamation claim after making a false statement and then adding a note expressing regret; it did not admit liability in court. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/04aea8663310af39ae2a85f4c1a56d68?utm_source=openai))

That leaves the outcome in its most basic form. ABC chose to pay to end the case. Trump got the kind of resolution he can describe as a win. And the factual record underneath the dispute still says the same thing it said before the settlement: the Carroll jury found sexual abuse and defamation, not rape. ([npr.org](https://www.npr.org/2023/05/09/1174975870/trump-carroll-verdict?utm_source=openai))