Judge rules Trump owes no answers into other allegations
NEW YORK — Summer Zervos had hoped her defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump might become a platform for other women who, like her, have accused the president of sexual harassment. But that bid ran into a roadblock Friday, when a judge in state Supreme Court in Manhattan denied her request to force Trump to turn over evidence related to other women who have said he made unwanted sexual advances.
The judge, Jennifer Schecter, said that Trump must respond to questions directly related to Zervos’ allegation that he inappropriately kissed and touched her on two occasions but that she had not demonstrated how the other women’s accusations were relevant to her case.
Zervos, a businesswoman who was a contestant on Trump’s television show The Apprentice, said in her lawsuit that Trump defamed her when he denied her allegation during the 2016 election.
The judge said that the evidence about the other women’s claims was not needed to show that Trump had knowingly made a false statement about Zervos.
Still, Trump will have to provide some information about those other cases. The judge said Trump would have to turn over his internal documents and communications about how he should respond to any woman’s public statement that he acted inappropriately.
He will also have to identify the people involved in those communications and name the “fixers” who handled accusations of sexual misconduct. Finally, he must also turn over information about his whereabouts during the alleged misconduct and telephone records for the period covering Zervos’ allegations.
Zervos’ lawyer, Mariann Wong, said, “We thought the decision made sense and should be sufficient for us to prove our claims.”
Trump’s lawyer, Paul Burgo, did not respond to requests for comment.
In court papers, Zervos said Trump twice kissed and groped her without her consent in 2007. The first time, she said, was during a job interview at Trump’s New York office. The second incident occurred during a meeting in a bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.
Zervos made her allegations public Oct. 14, 2016. That same day, Trump issued a statement saying the allegations against him were “100 percent false, made up and never happened.”
Nine other women came forward with claims that Trump had acted inappropriately with them, and he denied those allegations, too.
Two months after the election, Zervos filed a lawsuit against Trump, stating Trump defamed her when he described her accusations and those of other women as “total lies” and “made up nonsense to steal the election.” He also said the women had come forward for fame or monetary gain, perhaps at the behest of his opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.