President-elect Donald Trump is not letting up in a pair of high-profile lawsuits against ABC News and CBS News, even after his resounding White House victory last month.
Trump is suing ABC News and anchor George Stephanopoulos for defamation over on-air remarks he made earlier this year. Trump is also suing CBS News for $10 billion in damages, stating the network practiced “deceptive conduct” for the purpose of election interference in its interview in October with Vice President Kamala Harris. Both lawsuits remain active and ongoing with a pre-trial discovery hearing set for Friday in the suit against the Disney-owned outlet, while the CBS suit could potentially impact an enormous media merger.
“President Trump will continue to hold those who have committed, and are committing wrongdoings, accountable for blatantly false and dishonest reporting, which serves no public interest and only seeks to interfere in our elections on behalf of political partisans,” incoming Trump White House communications director Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital.
ABC NEWS’ GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS INACCURATELY SAID TRUMP WAS FOUND ‘LIABLE FOR RAPE’ 10 TIMES, LEGAL GURUS SAY
The first lawsuit stems from comments ABC’s Stephanopoulos made in March when he asserted that Trump was found “liable for rape” in a civil case.
Stephanopoulos’ comments were made during a tense exchange with Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., on his Sunday program “This Week.” After playing a clip of Mace discussing being a victim of rape, Stephanopoulos asked her, “How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony we just saw?”
“You’ve endorsed 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, alluding to the legal victory by Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll.
Stephanopoulos repeated that claim ten times during his spat with Mace, despite the fact that a jury actually determined Trump was liable for “sexual abuse,” which has a distinct definition under New York law.
After the federal jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse, but not rape, Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote in a later ruling that just because Carroll 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.’”
TRUMP SUES ABC NEWS, GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS FOR DEFAMATION
The suit against ABC recently saw the start date for a jury trial pushed from April 2025 to June 2025 after both sides sought extensions.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Judge Lisette M. Reid issued a protective order last month urging parties to engage in “disclosure and discovery which may involve, among other things, the production of documents and information deemed confidential, including confidential newsgathering, research, or commercial information, and personal information of parties and third parties,” an “entry of a protective order pursuant to Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is necessary to protect such information that may be produced or provided by the parties or non-parties” whereas “good cause exists for entry of a protective order of confidentiality.”
ABC stood by Stephanopoulos following the interview. Pre-trial discovery hearings have been set for December 13 and December 19.
Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against CBS came when he accused the network of practicing “deceptive conduct” for the purpose of election interference in its “60 Minutes” interview with Harris.
Correspondent Bill Whitaker asked Harris why it seemed like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn’t listening to the United States. However, the vice president’s lengthy answer that aired on Oct. 6 didn’t make the version that aired the following night on “60 Minutes” and a shorter, significantly more focused answer to the same question was shown instead.
CBS insisted it was edited down for time, but Trump’s legal team feels otherwise.
Trump attorneys said the complaint is due to “CBS’ partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion calculated to confuse, deceive, and mislead the public.” They also argued the edits were done in an effort to “attempt to tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party as the heated 2024 Presidential Election — which President Trump is leading — approaches its conclusion.”
“President Trump brings this action to redress the immense harm caused to him, to his campaign, and to tens of millions of citizens in Texas and across America by CBS’s deceptive broadcasting conduct,” the lawsuit states.
Last week, CBS filed a motion to dismiss over “lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and failure to state a claim,” according to a court document obtained by Fox News Digital.
CBS’ legal team pushed to dismiss the suit with prejudice over a variety of reasons, including the claim that Trump’s “attempt to punish defendants for their editorial judgments is barred by the First Amendment.”
There has been no further action since the notion to dismiss was filed.
Some in Trump’s orbit reportedly feel an $8 billion deal to merge CBS parent company Paramount Global with Skydance Media could be affected by the lawsuit, as incoming Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr needs to approve the deal.
Some believe Carr could require CBS to release an unedited transcript of the “60 Minutes” interview, and others believe CBS should prove it is a nonpartisan news organization.
Carr did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ABC News and CBS News did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Paramount declined comment.
Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
