Trump seeks to halt case by woman who says he groped her
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has asked a New York appeals court to put on hold a defamation lawsuit by a former candidate on his reality television show ‘The Apprentice’, who claims he sexually harassed her.
His lawyers argue that he’s immune from litigation and want time to seek to overturn a March decision denying his request to throw the case out.
Mr Trump’s appeal came shortly before he was due to file a response to the lawsuit by Summer Zervos, who alleges he defamed her when he said she was lying about her claims that he kissed and groped her.
The first status hearing is scheduled for today.
Mr Trump is seeking to reverse a May 17 ruling from a lower appeal court that rejected his request to put the case on hold.
That ruling opened the door for Ms Zervos to seek extensive documents in the case.
“The sound reasoning of the lower court will prevail, and we look forward to proving the defendant lied when he attacked Ms Zervos for telling the truth about his unwanted sexual groping,” her lawyer, Mariann Wang, said in an email.
Ms Zervos, a contender on ‘The Apprentice’ in 2005, has already requested out-takes from the show and records from a Beverly Hills hotel about Mr Trump’s stay – as well as a possible deposition of the president. She has also asked for any documents from the presidential campaign about other women who claimed Mr Trump harassed them.
He already faces a May 29 deadline to respond to Ms Zervos’s subpoena seeking documents concerning “any woman alleging that Donald J Trump touched her inappropriately”.
At least 19 women have accused him of sexual misconduct – claims the president has repeatedly denied.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Schecter in March rejected Mr Trump’s request to throw out the lawsuit, writing: “No one is above the law.”
Ms Zervos sued Mr Trump in January 2017 for defamation for saying she lied when she said he “ambushed” her on more than one occasion starting in 2007, kissing her, touching her breast and pressing his genitals against her.
Mr Trump has called the lawsuit politically motivated, saying Ms Zervos can’t hold him liable for engaging in political speech that’s protected by the First Amendment.
He has said she continued to attempt to contact him and seek employment even after he made the alleged unwanted sexual advances – and only turned against him after he failed to accept an invitation to her restaurant. (Bloomberg)