Trump claims ‘big win’ after judge rejects ABC News attempt to dismiss defamation suit

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Donald Trump will be allowed to sue ABC News and George Stephanopoulos for defamation after a federal judge rejected the network’s attempts to dismiss a lawsuit targeting the anchor’s statements that Trump had been “found liable for rape.” In March, Stephanopoulos pressed congresswoman Nancy Mace about her support for the former president, despite a judge finding him “liable for rape by a jury.” “Donald Trump has been found liable for defaming the victim of that rape by a jury. Trump has appealed the $83.3m verdict The judge overseeing those cases wrote last year that Carroll’s failure 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.’” “Indeed, as the evidence at trial recounted below makes clear, the jury found that Mr Trump in fact did exactly that,” US District Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote. “But the privilege does not protect media where the omission of important context renders a report misleading.” She argued that a “reasonable viewer” who watched the ABC News segment “could have been misled by Stephanopoulos’s statements, which did not include the jury’s original findings and only fleetingly referenced the interpretation Judge Kaplan later offered.” “Judge Kaplan’s findings do not have preclusive effect here,” she added. open image in gallery In March, George Stephanopoulos pressed congresswoman Nancy Mace about her support for the former president, despite a judge finding him “liable for rape by a jury.” A jury found Trump liable for defaming and sexually abusing E Jean Carroll.