ABC and George Stephanopoulos have settled with Trump for $15 million in a defamation lawsuit that is an example of how Trump will operate as President. Our freedom of speech requires that we are able to criticize our elected officials. And freedom of the press is essential to keep tabs on political corruption. Trump knows this, and he and his allies are going to do everything they can to create a chilling effect on our press and our ability to criticize the government. 

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S O U R C E S:

ABC agrees to settle Trump defamation lawsuit for $15 million (Salon) https://www.salon.com/2024/12/15/abc-agrees-to-settle-defamation-for-15-million/

Why the ABC News Settlement With Trump Is Complicated (Mother Jones) https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/12/why-the-abc-news-settlement-with-trump-is-complicated/ 

Judge clarifies: Yes, Trump was found to have raped E. Jean Carroll (WashPo) https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/07/19/trump-carroll-judge-rape/ 

Why ABC News settled with Donald Trump for $15 million (CNN) https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/16/media/george-stephanopoulos-trump-settlement-abc/index.html 

New York expands the legal definition of rape to include many forms of nonconsensual sexual contact (AP) https://apnews.com/article/new-york-rape-law-governor-hochul-50e5f9d35b1a7e26881db616a787b45a 

Trump v. ABC Ruling on the Motion to Dismiss https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.664183/gov.uscourts.flsd.664183.34.0_1.pdf 

Trump v. ABC Settlement Order https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24990103-abc-trump-dismissal-ruling/ 

Florida statutes Ch 770 Defamation, http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0770/0770.html 

New York Times v. Sullivan https://www.oyez.org/cases/1963/39 

How Morning Joe plans to cover a second Trump term https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndkgprDLKjw&t=330s 

Trump and His Picks Threaten More Lawsuits Over Critical Coverage (NY Times) https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/15/business/media/trump-defamation-lawsuit-abc-hegseth-cnn.html 

Bill to protect journalists from revealing sources is ‘on life support’ (WashPo) https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2024/12/11/senate-bill-protect-journalists-sources/ 

Freedom of the Press (ACLU) https://www.aclu.org/issues/free-speech/freedom-press 

Most Americans say a free press is highly important to society (Pew) https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/04/23/most-americans-say-a-free-press-is-highly-important-to-society/ 

Obeying in Advance: Media billionaires ask for tyranny (Timothy Snyder) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3nJYpx9K5w