‘It’s Frightening’: ABC News Staffers Incensed by ‘Capitulation’ to Trump – Rolling Stone

In July of 2023, New York Judge Lewis Kaplan issued <a  href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.590045/gov.uscourts.nysd.590045.212.0.pdf"  rel="nofollow"  target="_blank"  >a clarification</a> in the civil cases brought by author <a  href="https://www.rollingstone.com/t/e-jean-carroll/"  id="auto-tag_e-jean-carroll"  data-tag="e-jean-carroll"  >E. Jean Carroll</a> against President-elect <a  href="https://www.rollingstone.com/t/donald-trump/"  id="auto-tag_donald-trump"  data-tag="donald-trump"  >Donald Trump</a>. A New York jury had ruled in May of that year that Trump <a  href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-found-liable-e-jean-carroll-rape-case-1234732175/"  >was liable for sexual abuse</a> and defamation against Carroll. According to New York criminal law, &ldquo;rape&rdquo; is narrowly defined as non-consenual vaginal penetration by a penis, and all other forceful acts of sexual assault are referred to as &ldquo;sexual abuse.&rdquo;&nbsp;<br>   &ldquo;The finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was &lsquo;raped&rsquo; within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump &lsquo;raped&rsquo; her as many people commonly understand the word &lsquo;rape,&rsquo;&rdquo; Kaplan wrote in the July ruling, dismissing an effort by Trump to lower the penalties awarded to Carroll. &ldquo;Indeed, as the evidence at trial recounted below makes clear, the jury found that Mr. Trump in fact did exactly that,&rdquo; Kaplan added.&nbsp;<br>    The tug of war between New York&rsquo;s criminal code and the common understanding of the word &ldquo;rape&rdquo; was at the center of a lawsuit, filed in March, thet Trump brought against <a  href="https://www.rollingstone.com/t/abc/"  id="auto-tag_abc"  data-tag="abc"  >ABC</a> News, and which ABC News settled in the form of a $15 million payment to Trump&rsquo;s presidential library fund earlier this month.&nbsp;      <div class="admz" id="adm-inline-article-ad-1">                     <div class="adma boomerang" data-device="Desktop" data-width="300">                  <div style="min-width:50px;min-height:75px;"   class="pmc-adm-boomerang-pub-div ad-text"   data-priority="10" >    <div id="gpt-dsk-tab-article-inbody-uid0"       class="adw-300 adh-250" data-is-adhesion-ad="">         <script type="application/javascript">

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