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President-elect Trump and George Stephanopoulos must sit for hours-long depositions just days before Christmas as part of the incoming president’s defamation suit against ABC News and its star anchor, a federal judge said.
Miami Magistrate Judge Lisette Reid ordered Trump to appear in-person next week to give the deposition, which will be capped at four hours.
The proceeding must take place in the Southern District of Florida, where Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach is located, according to the order.
Stephanopoulos also will be required to sit for a deposition, although Reid has allowed for him to do so remotely. His deposition also will be limited to a four-hour period.
“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 a previous order in the case filed in March.
Trump slapped ABC and Stephanopoulos with a lawsuit in March after the network star incorrectly said multiple times Trump was “found liable for rape” during a “This Week” interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC).
In May 2023, a Manhattan jury ordered Trump to pay $5 million to the former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll after finding him liable for sexually abusing her at a department store in 1996 and later defaming her in his statements where he denied her allegations.
Trump is seeking unspecified damages.
He has previously filed similar and unsuccessful lawsuits against outlets whose coverage he’s taken issue with, including a $475 million case against CNN that a federal judge tossed in July 2023.
