Former President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against ABC News and journalist George Stephanopoulos for broadcasting a segment that claimed he was found responsible for rape. In a recent interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Stephanopoulos questioned her backing of Trump by referencing the outcomes of author E. Jean Carroll’s sexual battery and defamation lawsuit, stating, “Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming the victim of that rape.” Nonetheless, the legal team representing the ex-president argues that this assertion is inaccurate.

“These statements were and remain false, and were made by Defendant Stephanopoulos with actual malice or with a reckless disregard for the truth given that Defendant Stephanopoulos knows that these statements are patently and demonstrably false,” Trump’s attorney, Alejandro Brito claimed.

He added, “Indeed, the jury expressly found that Plaintiff did not commit rape and, as demonstrated below, Defendant George Stephanopoulos was aware of the jury’s finding in this regard yet still falsely stated otherwise.”

Trump requested an unspecified sum of damages in the lawsuit. The Washington Post reported in July that Judge Lewis Kaplan had dismissed Trump’s claim that he was not held responsible for the rape.

“A judge has now clarified that this is basically a legal distinction without a real-world difference. He says that what the jury found Trump did was in fact rape, as commonly understood,” the Post reported.

The legal team representing the ex-president has emphasized the fact that the jury determined Trump to be responsible for “sexual abuse” rather than rape.