Politics April 10, 2017
Donald Trump claims that as President of the United States he is immune from civil lawsuits — which works out well for him since so many people want to sue him. But Summer Zervos, the former “Apprentice” Contestant who is suing him *right now* disagrees.
In new legal docs obtained by ENTITY, Zervos fired back at POTUS saying, “No person is above the law in this country, including the President of the United States.”
In other words she’s not backing down from the fight — and it could lead to major legal problems for Trump.
In case you need a refresher here’s a crash course on the case. In October 2016 (before the election) Zervos came forward — along with numerous other women — and claimed Trump sexually assaulted her at a hotel in Beverly Hills back in 2007. Specifically she says he became sexually aggressive with her, kissing her open-mouthed, touching her breasts and thrusting his genitals at her.
Video: ‘Apprentice’ contestant Summer Zervos says Donald Trump sexually accosted her at the Beverly Hills Hotel https://t.co/DK3jLrpSba
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) October 14, 2016
Trump publicly denied the accusations, claimed they were lies and “totally fabricated”. He even Tweeted, “THAT NEVER HAPPENED” (all caps his) referring to the alleged sexual misconduct.
In January 2017 — after being called a liar — Zervos slapped the soon-to-be-inaugurated Trump with a defamation lawsuit.
Trump’s legal team then responded to the suit claiming that Trump can’t be sued … because he’s the President.
And that’s not a crazy argument. In fact it’s the same one Clinton used back in the 90s when Paula Jones sued him for sexual harassment. If you recall however, in 1997 the Supreme Court rejected Clinton’s case and concluded that the suit would not impede his ability to act as President.
Regardless of that ruling Trump wants to fight for immunity and is challenging Zervos every step of the way.
But Zervos and her legal team (ehem, led by Gloria Allred) aren’t going away so easily. They claim that Trump shouldn’t even be allowed to make the immunity argument because the alleged sexual misconduct and defamation occurred before he took office.
“Clinton v. Jones makes clear that this defendant is not entitled to qualified immunity … because this case involves unofficial conduct before he assumed office,” state the legal docs. The docs go on to say that the idea that the suit would distract the President from his duties is “implausible” because Trump won’t personally be preparing any legal documents or fighting the case anyway — his lawyers will.
Zervos is asking that a judge allow the case to continue. Which if it does, means Trump could be sent to testify under oath during depositions — the very thing that led to Clinton’s impeachment.
Dun, dun dun.
