A federal judge has ordered President-elect Donald Trump and ABC News host George Stephanopoulos to sit for four-hour depositions next week in a libel lawsuit Trump brought against the network earlier this year.
Miami-based U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisette Reid issued the order Friday, signaling that Trump’s status as president-elect is not a reason to put off sworn questioning of him in connection with the suit he filed.
“The parties are reminded that the Court ‘has already granted a lengthy discovery period . . . and, with Election Day now behind us, there is no reason for any further delay,’” Reid wrote, quoting an earlier order in the case.
Reid said Trump’s deposition must take place “in person” in the Southern District of Florida, which includes Trump’s Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago.
Trump sued ABC after Stephanopoulos said on air that Trump raped writer E. Jean Carroll, who won a civil verdict against Trump for sexual abuse last year. The jury did not back Carroll’s rape claim against Trump, but in a subsequent opinion, the judge presiding over the case emphasized the distinction between the legal definition of rape and its more colloquial understanding.
Spokespeople for Trump and for ABC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The suit against ABC is one of a series of cases Trump filed against news organizations and perceived political enemies after leaving the White House in 2021.
The suits, in which Trump claims financial damages sometimes up to billions of dollars, generated fodder Trump could point to during the 2024 campaign highlighting his continued fight with what he claimed to be his opponents in the mainstream media. However, the legal cases now carry a potential hangover for the president-elect, as they expose him to the possibility of court orders directing him to offer sworn testimony and fork over documents related to the cases.
Trump could avoid depositions and other demands in the cases he filed by seeking to drop or settle them, but a spokesperson said last week that he plans to keep pressing forward.
