Donald Trump sued ABC News and George Stephanopoulos over the "This Week" host's lies about the judgment against Donald Trump in the E. Jean Carroll case. 

ABC agreed to a $15 million settlement and a $1 million payment to Trump's lawyers. At issue in the case was Stephanopoulos' insistence that Donald Trump was found liable for raping Carroll--which was not the case. 

Here is the exchange that started it all. 

ABC News agrees to $15 MILLION dollar settlement in Trump’s defamation case against George Stephanopoulos.

This comes from Stephanopoulos interview with Nancy Mace where George was a total piece of SCHIFF.

Snufulfugus was laughing about Trump’s lawsuit with Colbert. Who’s… pic.twitter.com/aSSlHkJWN2

— Clyp Keeper (@DGrayTexas45) December 15, 2024

We can argue about how insane the case itself was--only a New York jury would have found Trump liable for something this absurd--but even assuming the verdict was reasonable, the jury specifically said that Trump did not rape Carroll. In other words, Georgie boy kept insisting something that was false was true. 

And you can't claim that saying somebody is a rapist is not slanderous. 

What's really striking, looking at Trump-ABC defamation settlement, is how determined George Stephanopoulos was to push the falsehood that Trump had been found liable for rape. Said it over and over. Each time made it harder to defend. https://t.co/xykZVgRGEQ pic.twitter.com/esADM3gSpB

— Byron York (@ByronYork) December 16, 2024

ABC settled just before George Stephanopoulos was set to testify under subpoena in the case, and many people, including me suspect that the real reason they settled had less to do with concern that they would lose the case than that they would be subject to discovery that showed that the news organization was maliciously focused on destroying Donald Trump. 

In other words, the real liability they faced was public shaming, not financial exposure. $16 million was a small price to pay compared to the exposure of their vendetta against Trump, which would have destroyed the news organization utterly. Imagine what the emails and text messages would have shown!

The rest of the news media is freaking out, claiming that ABC is "bending the knee" to Trump and that the settlement will send a chill through the industry. It is creeping totalitarianism!

Didn’t you guys push the Russia collusion hoax?

— EducatëdHillbilly™ (@RobProvince) December 17, 2024

Who will "speak Truth to power?!" Or rather, who will lie without consequence?

MSNBC claims the press is “in a difficult position” due to the $15M settlement between Trump and ABC.

The Press is expected to tell the truth, something they are clearly not used to. pic.twitter.com/9yK6j5fM37

— Media Lies (@MediasLies) December 16, 2024

The media likes to pretend that they are objective and are laser-focused on telling the truth, but the fact is that every one of the media figures whining about this settlement are actually worried that the days of slandering Republicans without consequence are in the rear-view mirror. 

New York Times vs. Sullivan is still the law, and it is unlikely that Trump would have won the case--although this one may actually have had a chance because Stephanopoulos kept repeating his lie with glee and intent. What really scares them is that these lawsuits threaten the zone of impunity they have enjoyed. 

Don't believe the spin that ABC News' settlement with Trump for $15 million was "bending the knee." George Stephanopoulos' reckless disregard for the truth during his March Rep. Mace interview was a real liability - and there's no way ABC wanted to endure the PR nightmare of what… pic.twitter.com/WMyTsPXXT1

— Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) December 16, 2024

The money is not the issue--Trump doesn't need it and the ABC settlement is going to his future Presidential library--but rather the fact that discovery will give Trump (and us) a window into the behind-the-scenes discussions at these news agencies. They have a lot to hide in their deliberations and off-the-cuff comments, and will open their wallets to close the discussion.

🚨A glum Jake Tapper is upset about the Trump $15M settlement in lawsuit against ABC, and his suing other media outlets:

“This is wildly ridiculous."

Today, Trump mentioned The Des Moines Register, 60 Minutes, Bob Woodward and Russiagate reporters.

Legacy media is finally… pic.twitter.com/ZJ7mE8q4Go

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) December 17, 2024

The settlement will, indeed, have a chilling effect, but not on actual news coverage. It will, rather, force the media to become much more careful about the casual slanders they engage in. For years, they have lied about Trump and the Republicans, secure in the knowledge that winning defamation cases against news organizations is almost impossible. 

But Trump doesn't have to win to hurt them. He is nearly immune to slander after a decade of smears, and these companies have already lost so much credibility that they can't afford to be exposed even more. 

The business model of the Pravda media is collapsing. People have lost trust in them, and every new exposure of their tactics threatens to bring the Jenga tower down. 

Trump's lawsuits are aimed at doing just that. He doesn't want or need their money. He wants their heads mounted on the wall behind him as trophies. 

Good.