'Deeply Concerning': Ex-Prosecutor Calls ABC's Trump Settlement 'Far From Normal'
HuffPost
Joyce Vance was one voice in a chorus of backlash following the $15 million agreement.
Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance was among a chorus of legal experts and other critics who denounced ABC News’ decision to settle a defamation lawsuit with Donald Trump for $15 million.
As part of the settlement made public on Saturday, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million to Trump’s presidential library and $1 million toward Trump’s legal fees. It also issued an editor’s note expressing regret about anchor George Stephanopoulos’ comments during a March 10 interview on “This Week.”
Stephanopoulos had asserted during that interview, with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), that Trump was “found liable for rape.” In May 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing, but not raping, writer E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s. Trump sued for defamation over Stephanopoulos’ use of the term “rape.”
“This is so far from normal that it is difficult to process,” Vance wrote in her “Civil Discourse” newsletter.
“Many people, myself included, viewed the lawsuit as questionable when it was filed and a settlement, especially one this early in the proceedings and of this magnitude, unlikely,” she continued.