Trump camp: He’s immune
President’s lawyers fight defamation lawsuit
President Trump’s private attorneys asserted in court this week that he should be immune from a defamation lawsuit filed against him because of his presidential duties.
Summer Zervos, a former contestant from The Apprentice TV show, sued Trump on Jan. 17, days before the presidential inauguration. In October, she accused Trump of kissing and groping her in a Beverly Hills hotel in 2007. Trump denied the accusation, and in a series of tweets, he called the sexual misconduct allegations “100% fabricated,” “totally false” and “made-up nonsense.”
Zervos’ attorney, Gloria Allred, demanded a retraction, to no avail. So she sued. Zervos’ lawsuit claims the alleged defamation was “detrimental to Ms. Zervos’ reputation, honor and dignity.”
Trump’s attorneys said in this week’s court filing that the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution should bar the lawsuit since it could “distract a president from his public duties to the detriment of not only the president and his office but also the nation.”
Legal scholars predicted a collision of private lawsuits from Trump’s life before the presidency once he took office. A USA TODAY investigation found about 75 such lawsuits pending as Trump began his presidency.
The Zervos case will probably rely on standards set in 1997 in
Clinton v. Jones, a Supreme Court case that says presidents are not immune from private litigation while in office. In that case, Paula Jones, a former Arkansas state employee, accused President Clinton of sexual harassment.
Trump’s attorneys said the Clinton case left unresolved some issues, such as dismissing a case based on its likelihood to distract the presidency. Attorney Marc Kasowitz said he would soon file a motion to dismiss the case and ask for an apology and $2,914.
In a statement Tuesday, Allred said the president “does not enjoy legal immunity from our defamation lawsuit.”
“The United States Supreme Court addressed this legal immunity issue in Clinton v. Jones and determined unanimously that no man is above the law, and that includes the president of the United States,” Allred said. “We look forward to arguing this issue in court.”
“Because of the Supreme Court case related to Bill Clinton, there’s no automatic shield for the president from civil action,” Samuel Issacharoff, a law professor at New York University, told USA TODAY in November. “If he were president and called to testify and hostilities break out in the Middle East, a court would probably postpone — but of course, it’s a major dislocation to be going through these civil trials while he’s running an administration.”