Donald Trump: I can’t be sued for past sexual assaults because I’m president now

According to President Trump, a lawsuit claiming sexual assault brought against him by a former contestant on The Apprentice should not be able to go forward since he’s now the president, The Huffington Post reports.

Summer Zervos claims that Trump kissed and groped her in a hotel room back in 2007 after inviting her to dinner, a claim which Trump has denied. In a court filing this Friday, Trump lawyer Marc Kasowitz said Zervos’s “private witch hunt” is interfering with Trump’s ability to do his job as president.

“Ms. Zervos and her counsel have openly conceded ― indeed, bragged ― that their true motivation is to use this action for political purposes as a pretext to obtain broad discovery that they hoped could be used in impeachment hearings to distract from the President’s agenda,” the court filing reads.

From The Huffington Post:

Trump’s legal team used 1997 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Clinton v. Jones in its argument for presidential immunity, which they’ve cited before. At first look, the case involving then-President Bill Clinton and an Arkansas woman appears to undercut Trump’s argument, as the sexual harassment case against Clinton was allowed to proceed while he was in office. But Trump’s team argues that it left open the question of whether presidents may still be subject to such suits in state courts, as the Clinton case was brought at the federal level.

Zervos first brought forward her claims back in October, saying the assault took place in 2006, which was the first year that the reality TV show hosted by Trump aired. She says that Trump invited her to dinner during a visit to Los Angeles, but instead of dinner at a restaurant, she was redirected to a hotel room where the alleged assault took place.

According to HuffPo, Zervos is seeking $3,000 in damages but says that she’ll drop the suit if he admits the truth.

Featured image: Gage Skidmore (Flickr)

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.