President Trump will be deposed the week before Christmas in his defamation case against ABC News.
Trump’s defamation case against ABC News is related to statements made by “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos
Trump sued ABC News earlier this year after Stephanopoulos claimed Trump was “found liable for rape” by a Manhattan jury in the E. Jean Carroll case.
In 2019, E. Jean Carroll alleged Donald Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990’s.
Trump has denied the allegations and called E. Jean Carroll a “whack job” who’s “not my type.”
President Trump doesn’t even know who this woman is.
The jury found Trump ‘sexually abused’ E. Jean Carroll but they did not find he raped her.
Stephanopoulos defamed Trump during an interview with Nancy Mace earlier this year:
President Trump is suing George Stephanopoulos for defaming him and saying he was found liable for rape here in this shameful interview with Nancy Mace. 🔥🔥🔥pic.twitter.com/ANon5X5qoI
— JKash 🍊MAGA Queen (@JKash000) March 19, 2024
NBC News reported:
President-elect Donald Trump has been ordered to spend part of the week before Christmas being grilled by lawyers in his defamation case against ABC News.
Lawyers representing the broadcast network and “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos on Friday morning argued in a virtual court hearing that Trump must make himself available for a deposition next week, before a Dec. 24 deadline for the defendants to file a motion for summary judgment to avoid a trial.
Trump has thus far not made himself available for a recorded deposition — to the apparent chagrin of the defense team.
“I can understand your frustration,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisette M. Reid said to Nathan Siegel, the lawyer representing ABC News. She noted that while the president-elect previously had a “fairly good argument” to be unavailable for a deposition during a busy election campaign, “he’s now a completely different posture, and he should be able to make himself available.”
Siegel offered to make the deposition as convenient as possible for the president-elect, telling the judge he would fly to Florida to interview Trump near his Mar-a-Lago home and limit the proceedings to four hours. He also suggested the possibility of a Saturday sitdown, if easier for Trump’s schedule.
“I’m going to do everything in my power to make the president available,” replied Trump’s lawyer, Alejandro Brito. “But there are limitations of my ability to do so. I have to factor the Secret Service into the equation.” He assured the court that he would immediately work with Trump’s staff to figure out his availability next week.
