President-elect Donald Trump and George Stephanopoulos are set to undergo hours-long depositions just days before Christmas as part of Trump’s defamation lawsuit against ABC News and its anchor, a federal judge ruled.
Miami Magistrate Judge Lisette Reid ordered Trump to appear in-person next week for his deposition, which will be limited to four hours. The deposition must take place in the Southern District of Florida, where Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate is located.
Stephanopoulos will also be required to give a deposition, but Reid allowed him to do so remotely, with the same four-hour limitation.
“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 stated, referencing a prior order in the case filed in March.
Trump filed the lawsuit in March after Stephanopoulos incorrectly claimed multiple times that Trump had been “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 former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll after finding him liable for sexually abusing her in 1996 and later defaming her. Trump is seeking unspecified damages in the defamation lawsuit.
