PROCEED

NY Supreme Court Allows Former ‘Apprentice’ Contestant’s Defamation Suit Against Trump to Proceed

Summer Zervos publicly accused the former president of sexual misconduct, and in response he called her a liar, a label she sued over.

The New York Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a 2017 defamation suit filed by a former Apprentice contestant against Donald Trump may proceed. Summer Zervos is suing the former president and TV host for calling her a liar in his denial of her groping allegations. Zervos has publicly accused Trump of forcibly kissing her and groping her multiple times, including once during a job interview, in 2007 and 2008. Trump denied the claims and called Zervos’ allegations a “hoax.” Trump’s legal team previously argued that he was immune from such legal prosecution as commander-in-chief, but his term expired between the filing of his latest appeal and when the court held a hearing. A spokesman for the court told The New York Times, “The trial court ruled against him, the appellate division ruled against him and as it was pending here, he left office, so the issue disappeared.”