Summer Zervos, a restaurant owner in New York and former "Apprentice" contestant, was in the news after she filed charges of sexual assault against Donald Trump in the New York Supreme Court in January. In her lawsuit, she accused Trump of having defamed her by suggesting that what she claims are false accusations. Now, lawyers for the President have filed a plea in court asking that the case be dismissed.
Trump’s lawyers trying to get charges dismissed
The President’s lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, submitted a 53-page memo outlining the reasons why the court should dismiss the suit filed against Trump.
In it, he claims that the accusations were false from the very beginning and were a ploy to undermine Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Continuing the case further would mean that Trump would have to submit to intrusive evidentiary discovery, which could have adverse effects on the presidency.
Kasowitz also claimed that the lawsuit is unconstitutional as the President cannot be sued by a state court while he is in office. Only a lawsuit filed in federal court could be pursued against Trump while he holds the post of President of the United States. All other filings should either be dismissed or postponed until such a time when the President leaves his office or completes his term.
Back in 1997, the Supreme Court passed the judgment that the President of the country can be sued for his private matters even while he/she holds the post.
This ground-breaking decision eventually paved the way for the impeachment proceedings of former President Bill Clinton. However, Kasowitz feels that the Supreme Court intended that decision to imply that cases filed through a federal court could be pursued against a president. In this case, the lawsuit was filed by Zervos in a State Court.
Sexual harassment allegations
Zervos took part in the 2006 version of “Apprentice,” a popular reality show that featured the Donald Trump as a judge. She accused the billionaire businessman of having touched her inappropriately and forcefully kissing her when she went to his mansion a year after her appearance on the reality show.
She claimed that she had visited the mansion in hopes of securing a job at the Trump Organization but ended up getting harassed by the President.
In total, 11 women claimed that Trump had at some point or another groped, touched, and kissed them without their permission. All of these claims were made during the final weeks of the presidential campaign. The President has denied all of the allegations and termed them as made up and false.
