they were settled because if he actually said said these women specifically were discredited then thats more than a bit stupid of him.
Also if he didnt name them or say that they specifically were discredited could they have put themselves at legal jeopardy for their actions to try and get this unsealed?

which is a person's right, and is sometimes the right thing to do, even when innocent *, you absolutely positively cannot make any suggestion in any way about the topic you wont discuss any time, any where - you have to completely shut up

Bill ignored that rule, and is rightly paying the price

* I never would have believe it would be good for an innocent person to be silent, but a law professor in a fascinating youtube below explains the possible (if unlikely) scenerio - there's a robbery at a convenience store, and the clerk is killed. the cops question you. in truth, you were a 140 miles away, but you cant prove it (more and more unlikely, in the era of GPS cell phone). you dont know it, but they have a witness, a classmate of yours, that had nothing against you, thinks she saw you a couple of blocks away from the convenience store, 1/2 hour before the robbery. If you're silent, that means nothing - but if you say where you were, you have an unprovable alibi vs a sincere, but mistaken witness, so it looks like you're lying (remember silence cannot legally be used against you in a court of law) - with lethal injection in the balance for innocent you

both youtubes are entertaining and informational

she's pretty good