Trump must face 'Apprentice' contestant's defamation lawsuit: NY court
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[March 31, 2021]
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York state's
highest court on Tuesday cleared the way for a former contestant on "The
Apprentice" to sue Donald Trump for defamation, after the former U.S.
president called her a liar for accusing him of sexual assault.
Trump had argued before leaving the White House on Jan. 20 that Summer
Zervos could not pursue her case because a sitting president could not
be sued, but the state Court of Appeals said in a brief order that "the
issues presented have become moot."
Zervos' case will now return to a Manhattan trial court, where her
lawyers may have an opportunity to question Trump under oath. The case
had been on hold during Trump's appeal.
"Now a private citizen, the defendant has no further excuse to delay
justice for Ms. Zervos, and we are eager to get back to the trial court
and prove her claims," Beth Wilkinson, a lawyer for Zervos, said in an
email.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Mar/31/images/ads/current/goodman_sda_FFARM_2019.png)
Lawyers for Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Zervos came forward during the 2016 presidential campaign with
accusations that Trump subjected her to unwanted kissing and groping
after she sought career advice in 2007, two years after her appearance
on his reality television show.
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![](../images/033121pics/news_a51.jpg)
Summer Zervos, a former contestant on The Apprentice, appears in New
York State Supreme Court during a hearing on a defamation case
against U.S. President Donald Trump in Manhattan, New York, U.S.,
December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Barry Williams/Pool
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Mar/31/images/ads/current/stjohns_lda_EASTER_2021.png)
She sued Trump in January 2017 after he branded such allegations by
women "lies" and retweeted a post calling Zervos' claims a "hoax."
Zervos has sought a retraction or an apology, plus compensatory
damages and punitive damages.
Trump has denied Zervos' claims, and called her case politically
motivated.
Former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll is also suing Trump
for defamation, after he denied having raped her in the Bergdorf
Goodman department store in Manhattan in the mid-1990s.
Trump has also denied claims by several other women of improper
sexual conduct.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Howard
Goller)
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