Trump Loses Attempt to Delay Lawsuit by ‘Apprentice’ Contestant
(Bloomberg) -- A judge denied President Donald Trump’s request to put a hold on a defamation lawsuit filed by a former reality-TV contestant who claims he sexually assaulted her at a private dinner meeting more than a decade ago.
The ruling Monday by New York Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Schecter is Trump’s latest setback in a case filed by Summer Zervos, who is set to depose the president under oath by Jan. 31 about the alleged 2007 encounter at his bungalow in the Beverly Hills Hotel in California.
Zervos sued Trump three days before he took office, accusing the president of defaming her for denying her allegation that he’d groped her and forcefully kissed her. Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations.
Trump, who is challenging an earlier ruling that denied his request to dismiss the suit, had argued that a stay of the case was warranted “given the novel and important constitutional issues involved” and the need to prevent “irreparable harm to the president,” according to the judge’s order.
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