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In reply to the discussion: ABC agrees to give $15 million to Donald Trump's presidential library to settle defamation lawsuit [View all]FBaggins
(27,912 posts)They don't have to find malice by a criminal "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard... just be a "more likely than not" standard - which a Miami jury could do pretty easily since George had been a political strategist for a Democratic president. And then you're way off on your assumptions of how damages work. How much was he ordered to pay Caroll? Tens of millions of dollars. Not because that's the damage she suffered - but because damages are also based on punitive damages determined by his wealth. A company the size of ABC could trigger a very large award.
You may not be that far off on the risk of losing. But say they evaluate it as merely a 10% chance of losing $200 million? $16 now is cheaper than millions in legal fees plus that 10% chance.