The judge did not find Trump “liable for rape”. The jury found Trump guilty of sexual assault. In a jury trial, the jury makes the finding, not the judge. The judge made an extrajudicial statement that was, as I said, dicta. Dicta is meaningless and superfluous. It’s unnecessary, means nothing, and has no legal significance. Trump was NE…
The judge did not find Trump “liable for rape”. The jury found Trump guilty of sexual assault. In a jury trial, the jury makes the finding, not the judge. The judge made an extrajudicial statement that was, as I said, dicta. Dicta is meaningless and superfluous. It’s unnecessary, means nothing, and has no legal significance. Trump was NEVER found liable for rape, so to say that 9 different times (in the same interview, no less!) was definitely actionable and Trump would probably have won on the merits. All 10 statements by Stephanopoulos were factually and legally incorrect. Personally, I think Stephanopoulos knew, or certainly should have known, that these statements were incorrect and inflammatory. I’m certain Stephanopoulos meant for his statements to be inflammatory and damaging to Trump. The chances of Trump proving all the elements of defamation are/were pretty high. Had Trump won, that would be very damaging to ABC’s reputation, and to Stephanopoulos’s reputation and credibility going forward. It’s pretty unconscionable that Stephanopoulos did what he did and put ABC in the crosshairs to this extent. I hate Trump with a passion, so to totally blow it in this fashion just makes going after him legitimately that much harder. Stephanopoulos should be fired.
The judge did not find Trump “liable for rape”. The jury found Trump guilty of sexual assault. In a jury trial, the jury makes the finding, not the judge. The judge made an extrajudicial statement that was, as I said, dicta. Dicta is meaningless and superfluous. It’s unnecessary, means nothing, and has no legal significance. Trump was NEVER found liable for rape, so to say that 9 different times (in the same interview, no less!) was definitely actionable and Trump would probably have won on the merits. All 10 statements by Stephanopoulos were factually and legally incorrect. Personally, I think Stephanopoulos knew, or certainly should have known, that these statements were incorrect and inflammatory. I’m certain Stephanopoulos meant for his statements to be inflammatory and damaging to Trump. The chances of Trump proving all the elements of defamation are/were pretty high. Had Trump won, that would be very damaging to ABC’s reputation, and to Stephanopoulos’s reputation and credibility going forward. It’s pretty unconscionable that Stephanopoulos did what he did and put ABC in the crosshairs to this extent. I hate Trump with a passion, so to totally blow it in this fashion just makes going after him legitimately that much harder. Stephanopoulos should be fired.