Donald’s ‘Apprentice’ gets a Christmas gift from Manhattan court
Ex-President Donald Trump must sit for a deposition by Christmas in a defamation lawsuit brought by a former “Apprentice” contestant accusing him of sexual assault, a court hearing revealed Monday.
Summer Zervos says Trump smeared her name while on the 2016 presidential campaign after she went public with allegations that he groped her in separate encounters in 2007.
Michael Rand, a law clerk for Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Schecter, set a Dec. 23 deadline for Trump’s and Zervos’ lawyers to enter all evidence, including depositions from both sides.
Trump had successfully stalled the case, which Zervos (photo) filed in 2017, through legal arguments centered on his presidential responsibilities. His defeat by President Biden in last year’s election cleared the way for the suit to proceed.
“Now, he’s a private citizen,” said Rand.
The New York Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal from Trump in March, noting that his arguments about immunity while in the Oval Office were now moot.
Trump, who has a well-established reputation of churning through lawyers, has New Jersey-based attorney Alina Habba representing him in the Zervos case after one of his longtime attorneys, Marc Kasowitz, withdrew in early September. Kasowitz did not return a call from the Daily News seeking comment.
Habba also reps Trump in his $100 million lawsuit against his niece Mary Trump and The New York Times. At Monday’s hearing, Habba revealed that Trump plans to file a counterclaim in Zervos’ lawsuit under new “anti-SLAPP” legislation created to deter abusive “strategic lawsuits against public participation.”
Trump’s lawyers said they intend to depose Zervos and demanded more of her medical records, 500 pages of which have already been turned over, according to Zervos’ attorney Moira Penza.
The alleged assaults at the heart of the case accuse Trump of groping Zervos at Trump Tower in Midtown and in the Beverly Hills Hotel during separate encounters in 2007.
Trump “kissed her on the mouth repeatedly,” “touched her breast,” and “pressed his genitals up against her,” all without consent, according to Zervos’ lawsuit.
Zervos says Trump defamed her by repeatedly calling her a liar. Penza said her client had been prejudiced by having to wait so long to have the case proceed.
“The president is a private citizen, and he just cannot delay this case any longer,” said Penza.
Trump maintains his innocence.