The New York Post claims that George Stephanopoulos was "let off easy" in a $16 million defamation settlement with Trump.
Star anchor's on-air remarks led to ABC News settling a defamation suit.
The New York Post editorial board criticized ABC for being "let off easy" in the embarrassing case involving defamatory claims made by George Stephanopoulos against President-elect Donald Trump.
The New York Post editorial board stated on Sunday that President-elect Donald Trump allowed ABC to settle for $15 million towards his future presidential library and $1 million for legal fees to avoid a defamation lawsuit it was certain to lose, and thus avoid legal discovery that would have destroyed its new division's reputation.
As per the settlement, ABC News will contribute $15 million to a presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for the plaintiff, as past presidents of the United States have done. Furthermore, the network will pay $1 million in legal fees for Trump's attorneys.
On March 10, Stephanopoulos, a former Bill Clinton aide and sharp critic of Trump, repeatedly stated that Trump had been found liable for rape in a case involving E. Jean Carroll, who filed a civil suit against him.
"The judge, Lewis Kaplan, later commented on Carroll's case, stating that she had not proven rape as defined by dictionary.com but only according to New York law, which defines it as a clear attempt to make the decision as beneficial as possible for anti-Trump electioneering. The New York Post published an article titled "Trump let ABC off easy in settling for just $16 million over George Stephanopoulos' blatant defamation.""
The New York Post reported that Stephanopoulos (or whoever writes his scripts) had no factual basis for his numerous exaggerated claims about Trump being responsible for rape.
The settlement between Trump and Stephanopoulos will be viewed as a "ominous sign" by Trump critics, indicating potential challenges for the incoming administration and media landscape.
The New York Post stated that corporations, such as ABC and its parent company, Disney, do not make such payouts unless they believe they can avoid even worse consequences if the case progresses.
An ABC News spokesperson stated on Saturday that they were pleased with the agreement reached between the parties to dismiss the lawsuit as outlined in the court filing.
Planet Chronicle' Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.
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