Judge Orders Depositions for Trump, George Stephanopoulos in ABC Lawsuit

President Donald Trump talks with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos before a town hall at National Constitution Center, in Philadelphia, on Sept. 15, 2020. Evan Vucci/AP Photo

A magistrate judge in Florida has ordered President-elect Donald Trump and ABC News host George Stephanopoulos to appear for depositions this month as part of an ongoing lawsuit between the two.

Earlier this year, Trump sued Stephanopoulos and ABC News, alleging that the “This Week” host defamed him when he stated during an interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) that a jury found Trump liable for rape.

A brief order from Magistrate Judge Lisette Reid states that depositions for Trump and Stephanopoulos shall take place for no longer than four hours during the week of Dec. 16.

The ABC interview took place after two civil lawsuits in New York from author E. Jean Carroll, who in 2019 accused Trump of raping her sometime in the 1990s. While the jury in that case rejected her claim that she was raped, it found Trump responsible for a form of sexual abuse. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

Trump’s lawsuit against Stephanopoulos centers on an interview in March when Stephanopoulos asked Mace about her endorsement of Trump with comments she made about rape victims being doubted.

At one point during the interview, Stephanopoulos said that “Donald Trump has been found liable for rape by a jury.” He also asked Mace: “Why are you supporting someone who’s been found liable for rape?”

Just over a week after that interview aired on March 10, Trump sued Stephanopoulos in the Southern District of Florida. His March 18 complaint noted that the jury’s verdict form stated that Carroll did not prove beyond a preponderance of the evidence that Trump raped her.

ABC moved to dismiss the case while arguing that statements in the interview were substantially true and protected under the fair report privilege, a legal doctrine that shields journalists from libel lawsuits when they report on fair and accurate accounts of official proceedings or documents.

Its filing pointed to a July 2023 opinion by Southern District of New York Judge Lewis Kaplan, who said that New York law defined rape more narrowly than it is ordinarily used in conversation.

“The finding that Ms. Carroll failed 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,’” Kaplan wrote.

Judge Cecilia Altonaga rejected the motion in July. She said that “a reasonable viewer — especially one who was aware that Plaintiff had been charged with rape under New York Penal Law — 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.”

Altonaga said that “[a]ny remaining questions as to the reasonableness of Stephanopoulos’s statements are not for resolution on a motion to dismiss.”

She also left open the possibility that a jury would see sufficient context in the ABC anchor’s comments.

“A jury may, upon viewing the segment, find there was sufficient context,” she wrote. “A jury may also conclude Plaintiff fails to establish other elements of his claim. ... but a reasonable jury could conclude Plaintiff was defamed and, as a result, dismissal is inappropriate.”

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.