Trump found liable for sexual abuse, but not rape in E. Jean Carroll case

Unique Points

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• Former President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against ABC News and George Stephanopoulos for defamation over assertions the anchor made in an interview with Nancy Mace.
• Stephanopoulos pressed Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, a rape survivor, over her continued support of Trump after a jury found him sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll in 1996 and awarded her $88 million for battery and defamation.
• In the interview with Stephanopoulos on This Week , Mace argued that the jury decision was merely in a civil case, number one, she told Stephanopoulos. Number two, I live with shame. And you're asking me a question about my political choices trying to shame me as a rape victim.
• A Manhattan federal jury last year found Trump had sexually abused Carroll and was liable for battery but did not find that she proved he raped her.
• Dismissing a countersuit months later, however, the judge in the case concluded that the claim Trump raped Carroll was substantially true. Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote.

Accuracy

• Trump's lawsuit claims Stephanopoulos' statements were false, intentional, malicious and designed to cause harm.

Deception (50%)

• Stephanopoulos' statements were taken out of context and misrepresented as defamatory when they were actually true. The jury found that Trump had sexually abused Carroll but did not find him guilty of rape which means he was acquitted in a criminal court case.
• The author claims that Trump has a long history of filing meritless lawsuits against the news media when it is not clear if this lawsuit will be successful or not. This statement is deceptive because there are no details provided to support this claim and it implies that all of his previous lawsuits were unsuccessful which may not be true.

Fallacies (85%)

• > In an interview on “This Week,” Stephanopoulos pressed Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, a rape survivor, over her continued support of Trump after a jury found he sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll in 1996.
• The South Carolina Republican defended her support of the former president, arguing that the jury decision was merely in a civil case.

Bias (85%)

• Stephanopoulos repeatedly used the word 'raped' to describe Carroll's experience which is not accurate as per the court decision.
• The author mentions that Trump has filed multiple lawsuits against news outlets in the past, including one against The New York Times where he was forced to pay $392,000 in attorney fees.

Site Conflicts Of Interest (100%)

None Found At Time Of Publication

Author Conflicts Of Interest (50%)

None Found At Time Of Publication

Unique Points

• Judge clarifies: Yes, Trump was found to have raped E. Jean Carroll
• The jury stopped short of saying he committed that particular offense and instead opted for a second option: sexual abuse.
• What the jury found Trump did was in fact rape, as commonly understood.

Accuracy

• A judge has now clarified that this is basically a legal distinction without a real-world difference.

Deception (90%)

• The article states:

Fallacies (85%)

• The finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was raped within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump raped her as many people commonly understand the word rape
• Mr. Trump in fact did exactly what he was accused of doing, which is forcing digital penetration

Bias (85%)

• The jury stopped short of saying he committed that particular offense.

Site Conflicts Of Interest (50%)

None Found At Time Of Publication

Author Conflicts Of Interest (50%)

None Found At Time Of Publication

Unique Points

• . The lawsuit filed by Donald Trump against ABC News and George Stephanopoulos argues that the news network got it all wrong in its coverage of his E. Jean Carroll case.
• . In a Tuesday filing, Trump's attorneys argued that Stephanopoulos had wrongly cited Trump's judgment in an interview earlier this month, questioning Representative Nancy Mace on endorsing Trump even though he had been found liable for rape.

Accuracy

• The sudden focus on language by Donald Trump comes at a time when he is scrambling to pay up on his $454 million judgment from his New York bank fraud trial.

Deception (50%)

None Found At Time Of Publication

Fallacies (80%)

• The author uses an appeal to authority by citing Judge Lewis Kaplan's clarification of New York penal law without providing any context or explanation for why this is relevant to the case at hand.
• There are multiple instances of inflammatory rhetoric used throughout the article, such as calling Trump a sexual abuser and accusing him of maliciously intending to convince viewers of a falsity.

Bias (0%)

• It's unclear how the verbiage will play out in court, though Trump's unexpected specificity flies in the face of another precedent set by the court.
• Stephanopoulos had wrongly cited Trump’s judgment in an interview earlier this month, in which the anchor questioned Representative Nancy Mace on endorsing Trump, even though he had been “found liable for rape.”
• The suit hinges on particular legal phrasing stemming from New York’s penal code.
• Trump’s sudden focus on language comes at a time when he’s scrambling to pay up on his $454 million judgment from his New York bank fraud trial...

Site Conflicts Of Interest (50%)

• .
• $454 million judgment from his New York bank fraud trial.

Author Conflicts Of Interest (50%)

• .
• $454 million judgment from his New York bank fraud trial.

Unique Points

• , Lawyers for former President Donald Trump say he may testify at a mid-January civil trial set to decide how much he owes a columnist for defaming her after she said he sexually abused her three decades ago in a Manhattan luxury department store.
• Former President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against ABC News and George Stephanopoulos for defamation over assertions the anchor made in an interview with Nancy Mace.
• A judge has now clarified that this is basically a legal distinction without a real-world difference. What the jury found Trump did was in fact rape, as commonly understood.

Accuracy

• Trump was found to have raped E. Jean Carroll
• Stephanopoulos questioned a rape victim in an interview with Nancy Mace
• The jury stopped short of saying Trump committed that particular offense and instead opted for sexual abuse.

Deception (50%)

• The article claims that 'Trump may testify at a trial set to decide how much he owes a columnist for defaming her after she said he sexually abused her three decades ago in a Manhattan luxury department store.' However, this statement is misleading because it implies that Trump has been accused of sexual abuse and defamation when the jury had already found him guilty of sexual abuse but not rape.
• The article quotes lawyers for former President Donald Trump saying 'Trump may testify at a trial set to decide how much he owes a columnist for defaming her after she said he sexually abused her three decades ago in a Manhattan luxury department store.' However, this statement is misleading because it implies that Trump has been accused of sexual abuse and defamation when the jury had already found him guilty of sexual abuse but not rape.

Fallacies (70%)

• The author uses an appeal to authority by stating that the jury at a Manhattan trial last May found E. Jean Carroll had been sexually abused by Trump in spring 1996 in the dressing room of a Bergdorf Goodman store across from Trump Tower, where Trump resided.
• The author also uses inflammatory rhetoric when they describe how Carroll's life has been affected and threats she has faced since Trump claimed that he never knew her and that she was making false accusations against him.

Bias (85%)

• > Lawyers for former President Donald Trump say he may testify at a mid-January civil trial set to decide how much he owes a columnist for defaming her after she said he sexually abused her three decades ago in a Manhattan luxury department store.

Site Conflicts Of Interest (100%)

None Found At Time Of Publication

Author Conflicts Of Interest (0%)

None Found At Time Of Publication