Trump gets $15m after settling defamation suit with ABC News

ABC News will pay a $15 million settlement payment to resolve a defamation lawsuit brought by President-elect Donald Trump, according to court documents filed Saturday.

The lawsuit stemmed from on-air comments made by top anchor George Stephanopoulos, who said Donald Trump was found “liable for rape” during an interview with US Representative Nancy Mace that aired in March.

The terms of the settlement require ABC News to make a $15 million donation to a fund dedicated to “a presidential foundation and museum” for Trump.

The news organization and Stephanopoulos will also issue public apologies saying they “regret statements” made about Trump during the aforementioned interview, and the broadcaster will pay an addition $1 million in attorney fees.

The case was settled one day after Judge Lisette M. Reid requested depositions from both Trump and Stephanopoulos.

Trump had been found liable for sexual abuse — a different transgression from rape under New York law — in a 2023 case filed by writer E. Jean Carroll.

The settlement marks the latest victory in Trump’s string of legal fortune since winning the November 5 presidential election.

Last month, a US appeals court granted the dismissal of charges for Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents upon exiting the White House.

US Special Counsel Jack Smith also paused a second federal case regarding Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election results, although Trump faces racketeering charges over the same issue in a case out of Georgia.

And for Trump’s May conviction in the hush money case — the only criminal charges against him to go to trial — Judge Juan Merchan has indefinitely postponed sentencing.

Trump taps Truth Social CEO

US President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday named loyalist Devin Nunes, who heads his social media platform Truth Social, to serve as chairman of a White House intelligence advisory board.

Nunes is a Republican ex-congressman from California who led the US House intelligence committee during the start of Trump’s first presidential term.

He has accused the Federal Bureau of Investigation of abusing its powers to spy on a Trump election campaign official who had extensive Russian contacts.

Donald Trump said in his post that Nunes will remain the chief executive of Truth Social while leading the advisory panel.

In 2018 while chair of the intelligence committee, Nunes released a controversial memo saying the FBI conspired against Trump when it was probing Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

“Devin will draw on his experience as former Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and his key role in exposing the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, to provide me with independent assessments of the effectiveness and propriety of the U.S. Intelligence Community’s activities,” Trump said in a statement.

The President’s Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB), created in the mid-20th century, exists to provide an independent source of advice on the effectiveness of the intelligence community’s data and its data acquisition.

Trump described the board as consisting of “distinguished citizens from outside of the Federal Government.”

Later on Saturday, Trump appointed another outspoken loyalist, Richard Grenell, to serve as a presidential envoy for special missions.

“Ric will work in some of the hottest spots around the World, including Venezuela and North Korea,” Trump said in a statement posted to Truth Social.

Grenell, who served as US ambassador to Germany during Trump’s first term, made history in 2020 as the first openly LGBT US cabinet member when Trump appointed him as acting director of national intelligence.

Grenell had been seen as a contender for secretary of state in Trump’s second term but that job ended up going to Marco Rubio.

The arch-loyalist Grenell, who sought to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss, appeared with Trump during a meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in September.

The appointments come two weeks after Trump, set to be sworn in as president on January 20, nominated loyalist Kash Patel as FBI director, replacing current director Christopher Wray.

Patel, who Nunes said assisted with the 2018 memo, is a former Pentagon official and advisor for both Nunes and Grenell who is known for his passionate views on the government “deep state.”