Trump makes 'last-ditch' bid to delay Summer Zervos case as legal woes mount: report
Nearly five years ago, former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos filed a defamation lawsuit against former president Donald Trump — for calling her a liar after she accused him of sexually assaulting her.
Trump managed to delay Zervos' lawsuit while he was in office, by arguing that a sitting president can't be sued in state court.
Although a New York trial judge rejected Trump's argument, the state's highest court waited until March of this year to dismiss his appeal, after he left office and his argument became moot.
Now, facing a Dec. 23 deadline to give a deposition in the lawsuit, Trump is once again attempting to stall, according to Zervos.
Bloomberg reported Saturday that Trump "is seeking court permission to amend his response to the 2017 complaint and add counterclaims."
Zervos, who accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a Beverly Hills hotel room more than a decade ago, responded by calling Trump's request a "last-ditch" effort to avoid being deposed.
"Trump has successfully delayed prosecution of this lawsuit for almost five years and should not be permitted to continue to do so," Zervos said in a court filing, pointing to the Judge Jennifer Schecter's ruling four years ago that said "there is absolutely no authority for dismissing or staying a civil action related purely to unofficial conduct" by a U.S. president.
"No one is above the law," Schecter wrote in her ruling.
Trump "refused to accept that fundamental principle, seeking to prevent resolution of this litigation through repeated appeals, motions for reconsideration, and requests to stay -- until he lost the 2020 election to President Biden and his immunity argument became moot. This motion is nothing more than a continuation of this pattern of delay," Zervos said.
Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba, said in an email to Bloomberg, "President Trump is not only prepared but looks forward to the opportunity to clear his name in the event of a deposition."
Bloomberg notes that Trump's legal woes "have been mounting, with criminal charges filed against his company and its former chief financial officer by New York authorities and a widening legal dispute with his niece, Mary Trump, who has accused him of fraud."
"Earlier this month, Trump was forced to sit for a deposition in a 2015 suit by protesters who claim they were assaulted by his security staff," the site reports.