President-elect Donald Trump and ABC News host George Stephanopoulos will give depositions next week in Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the host and his network, a judge ruled Friday.
Trump sues ABC News and Stephanopoulos for defamation after the host falsely said several times that Trump was “found responsible for rape” during an interview last March on “This Week” with Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C.
Lawyers representing ABC and Stephanopoulos, who also hosts “Good Morning America,” argued during a virtual hearing Friday that Trump should make himself available for a personal deposition next week, before the Dec. 24 deadline for the defendants to file a motion to be submitted. for summary proceedings to avoid a lawsuit.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a Buckeye Values PAC Rally in Vandalia, Ohio, on March 16, 2024. (KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump has made himself available for a recorded statement until now, but a judge argued the game has changed now that the election is over. This is reported by NBC News.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisette M. Reid issued an order that Trump sit for a personal deposition the week of Dec. 16. She argued that while Trump made a “pretty good argument” earlier, he was too busy to do so during the week of December 16. campaign: “He is now in a completely different position and he should be able to make himself available.”
Nathan Siegel, the attorney representing ABC News, has claimed that he is willing to make the impeachment process as easy as possible for Trump, to the point that he will fly to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and limit the impeachment to four hours, and possibly such a sit-down on Saturday.
Stephanopoulos will be allowed to make his statement remotely, the judge ruled.
TRUMP sues ABC NEWS and GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS for defamation
George Stephanopoulos is a frequent critic of Trump. (ABC/Paula Lobo via Getty Images)
The president-elect’s lawyer, Alejandro Brito, argued that even if the election is over, the nature of Trump’s position makes such a meeting a difficult undertaking.
“I’m going to do everything in my power to make the president available,” Brito said. “But there are limitations to my ability to do that. I have to bring the Secret Service into the equation.”
NBC reported that he “assured the court that he would immediately work with Trump’s staff next week to find out if he was available.”
TRUMP HAS HARRIS CAMPAIGN MEDIA STRATEGY: ‘MAJOR TACTICAL MISTAKE’
Fox News digital contacted representatives for Trump and Stephanopoulos, neither of whom immediately responded for comment.
Stephanopoulos’ comments were made during a tense exchange with Mace on March 10. After playing a clip of Mace discussing being a rape victim, Stephanopoulos asked her, “How do you reconcile your support for Donald Trump with the testimony we just saw?”
“You supported Donald Trump for president. Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming the victim of that rape,” Stephanopoulos said, referring to the legal victory of Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll.
George Stephanopoulos questioned Nancy Mace’s support for Donald Trump as a rape victim during an interview that is now at the center of a defamation lawsuit against the ABC host. (Left: (Photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images), Right: (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images))
Stephanopoulos repeated this claim ten times during his feud with Mace, despite the fact that a jury had actually found that Trump was liable for “sexual abuse,” which has a clear definition under New York law.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
ABC has supported Stephanopoulos since the interview. In the lawsuit against ABC, the start date for a jury trial was recently moved from April 2025 to June 2025 after both sides requested an extension.
Fox News Digital’s Brian Flood contributed to this report.
