Summer Zervos has asked a court to move her lawsuit against former PresidentDonald Trump forward.- Zervos accused Trump of
sexual assault and filed a defamation lawsuit when he called her a liar. - Trump argued that he had presidential immunity, but Zervos' lawyers noted he's no longer president.
Summer Zervos, a former contestant on "The Apprentice" who accused Donald Trump of sexual assault, has filed a motion to move forward her lawsuit against him after it was gummed up for more than a year.
She filed the defamation lawsuit against then-President Trump in a New York state court in 2017. Zervos claimed Trump kissed her against her will in New York in 2007, after she appeared on the NBC show, and later groped her in a California hotel.
Zervos is among the 26 women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct. Trump called his accusers liars, prompting Zervos' defamation lawsuit.
Trump moved to have the case dismissed, arguing that state courts can't exercise jurisdiction over a sitting president. Lower state courts dismissed that argument, noting that Paula Jones' lawsuit against Bill Clinton moved forward while he was president, but New York state's top court paused the case in March 2020, hindering her efforts to obtain evidence through the discovery process, including a deposition from Trump.
Trump left office on January 20. Now, Zervos wants to move her lawsuit forward.
"Defendant now is no longer President. As a result, Defendant's appeal is moot," Zervos' attorney Beth Wilkinson wrote in the filing.
The attorneys also said that Trump didn't oppose the Zervos motion. A spokeswoman for Kasowitz Benson Torres, the
Ther Zervos case is among numerous civil lawsuits Trump has to deal with now that he no longer has the shield of the presidency. He is also facing ongoing impeachment proceedings in Congress, and looming investigations from state and federal prosecutors in New York.