ABC News has agreed to pay $15 million towards Donald Trump’s presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit over anchor George Stephanopoulos's inaccurate on-air assertion that the US president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping writer E Jean Carroll.
As part of the settlement, signed on Friday and made public on Saturday, ABC posted an editor's note to its website expressing “regret” over Stephanopoulos's statements during a March 10 segment on his This Week programme. The network will also pay $1 million in legal fees to the law firm of Mr Trump’s lawyer.
The settlement agreement describes ABC's presidential library payment as a “charitable contribution”, with the money earmarked for a non-profit organisation that is being established in connection with the yet-to-be built library.
“We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing,” ABC representative Jeannie Kedas said.
A Florida federal judge had ordered Mr Trump and Stephanopoulos to sit for separate depositions in the case next week but the settlement means that sworn testimony is no longer required.
Mr Trump sued ABC and Stephanopoulos in federal court in Miami days after the network aired the segment, in which the long-time Good Morning America anchor and This Week host repeatedly misstated the verdicts in Ms Carroll’s two civil lawsuits against Mr Trump.
During a live interview, Stephanopoulos wrongly claimed that Mr Trump had been “found liable for rape” and “defaming the victim of that rape”. Mr Trump had actually been found liable for sexual abuse and defamation.
Ms Carroll, a former advice columnist, went public in a 2019 memoir with her allegation that Mr Trump raped her in the mid-1990s at Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury Manhattan department store across the street from Trump Tower, after they crossed paths at an entrance.
Mr Trump denied her claim, calling Ms Carroll a “nut job” who invented “a fraudulent and false story” to sell her memoir.
After being found liable for sexual abuse and defamation, Mr Trump was ordered to pay Ms Carroll about $91 million. He has since appealed the decision.
In a later ruling, Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the case wrote that just because Ms Carroll had failed to prove rape “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'", adding that the state's definition of the crime is “far narrower” than how it is defined in common modern parlance, in some dictionaries, in some federal and state criminal statutes, and elsewhere.
The ABC suit is one of a small but notable group of civil cases involving Mr Trump that are pending as he prepares to re-enter the White House. He has active cases against CBS and journalist Bob Woodward and publisher Simon & Schuster, and is appealing the dismissal of a suit against CNN.
As a defendant, Mr Trump is facing several lawsuits seeking to hold him responsible for the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol and a defamation case filed by the “Central Park Five” over his comments at a presidential debate this year.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Andor
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The%20specs
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Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJune%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammed%20Alnamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMicrofinance%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E16%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFamily%20offices%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
City's slump
L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
What is double taxation?
- Americans living abroad file taxes with the Internal Revenue Service, which can cost hundreds of dollars to complete even though about 60 per cent do not owe taxes, according to the Taxpayer Advocate Service
- Those obligations apply to millions of Americans residing overseas – estimates range from 3.9 million to 5.5 million – including so-called "accidental Americans" who are unaware they hold dual citizenship
- The double taxation policy has been a contentious issue for decades, with many overseas Americans feeling that it punishes them for pursuing opportunities abroad
- Unlike most countries, the US follows a citizenship-based taxation system, meaning that Americans must file taxes annually, even if they do not earn any income in the US.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
COPA DEL REY
Semi-final, first leg
Barcelona 1 (Malcom 57')
Real Madrid (Vazquez 6')
Second leg, February 27
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
SHOW COURTS ORDER OF PLAY
Wimbledon order of play on Saturday, July 8
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Centre Court (4pm)
Agnieszka Radwanska (9) v Timea Bacsinszky (19)
Ernests Gulbis v Novak Djokovic (2)
Mischa Zverev (27) v Roger Federer (3)
Court 1 (4pm)
Milos Raonic (6) v Albert Ramos-Vinolas (25)
Anett Kontaveit v Caroline Wozniacki (5)
Dominic Thiem (8) v Jared Donaldson
Court 2 (2.30pm)
Sorana Cirstea v Garbine Muguruza (14)
To finish: Sam Querrey (24) leads Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (12) 6-2, 3-6, 7-6, 1-6, 6-5
Angelique Kerber (1) v Shelby Rogers
Sebastian Ofner v Alexander Zverev (10)
Court 3 (2.30pm)
Grigor Dimitrov (13) v Dudi Sela
Alison Riske v Coco Vandeweghe (24)
David Ferrer v Tomas Berdych (11)
Court 12 (2.30pm)
Polona Hercog v Svetlana Kuznetsova (7)
Gael Monfils (15) v Adrian Mannarino
Court 18 (2.30pm)
Magdalena Rybarikova v Lesia Tsurenko
Petra Martic v Zarina Diyas
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
