Trump SUES ABC and George Stephanopoulos for defamation after saying he was found liable of raping E. Jean Carroll in controversial interview with Nancy Mace

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Donald Trump is suing ABC News and George Stephanopoulos for defamation after the TV host repeatedly said the former president had been found liable for rape.

The suit stems from a controversial interview with Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, a rape survivor, in which Stephanopoulos asked her: 'Why are you supporting someone who's been found liable for rape?'

The lawsuit, filed on Monday, said the anchor of ABC's Sunday morning news show 'falsely stated on several occasions that plaintiff had been found liable by multiple juries for the rape of Ms. E. Jean Carroll.'

Trump's lawyers accused Stephanopoulos of making the statements with 'malice' and a disregard for the truth.

'Plaintiff has suffered and will continue to suffer harm as a direct result of defendant's conduct,' they wrote.

Donald Trump is suing ABC News and George Stephanopoulos after the TV host repeatedly said the former president had been found liable for rape

In the interview Republican Rep. Nancy Mace accused Stephanopoulos of trying to 'shame' and 'bully' her as the ABC anchor pressed her on why she endorsed Trump

Trump is already embroiled in a string of lawsuits and four criminal cases even as he campaigns to return to the White House in November's presidential election.

A New York jury in May ordered Trump to pay $5 million in damages for sexually abusing Carroll in the 1990s and then defaming her by branding her a liar. 

In a second defamation lawsuit brought by Carroll, Trump was ordered to pay $83.3 million. Trump is appealing. 

Last year, his lawyers tried to argue that her claim for damages was excessive because a jury had found that he had not raped her.

But U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan dismissed that argument, saying the jury was acting on a very narrow, legalistic definition of the term 'rape.'

'The finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was "raped" within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump "raped" her as many people commonly understand the word "rape,"' he wrote in a 59-page decision.

'Indeed, as the evidence at trial recounted below makes clear, the jury found that Mr. Trump in fact did exactly that.'

In their suit, Trump's lawyers say: 'Indeed, the jury expressly found that the plaintiff did not commit rape ...'

And they point out that the 10-minute interview segment opened with questions about rape.

'Given that this was the first question about of the interview, combined with the intensity and persistence of the questioning engaged in by Stephanopoulos of an actual rape victim, it was clear that Stephanopoulos maliciously intended to convince his viewers of a falsity, ie that plaintiff had been found liable of rape,' they wrote.

In their suit, Trump's lawyers say: 'Indeed, the jury expressly found that the 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'

'You're trying to shame me for my political choice,' Mace told Stephanopoulos. 'It was not a criminal court'

ABC News said it had no comment on the lawsuit. 

The March 10 interview had already attracted a slew of headlines after Stephanopoulos repeatedly pressed Mace, who has spoken publicly about being raped as a teenager, on how she could endorse Trump.

In return, she accused him of attempting to shame and bully her.

Stephanopoulos said: 'I'm asking you a question about why you endorse someone who's been found liable for rape.' 

'It was not a criminal court,' she replied. 'This was a civil court and by the way, she joked about the judgment and what she was going to do with all that money. I find that offensive.

'As a rape victim, who's been shamed for years now because of her rape. You're trying to shame me again.'

The South Carolina Republican endorsed Trump in January, and the former president returned the favor this month.