Judge: Trump Can Be Deposed In Defamation Suit

Politico reports:

A judge ruled Tuesday that President Donald Trump can be deposed in a defamation lawsuit brought last year by Summer Zervos, a former contestant on “The Apprentice” who says Trump kissed and groped her after she appeared on the show.

Zervos is one of more than a dozen women who have accused Trump of unwanted sexual contact. The president has vehemently denied all of the women’s claims, which he called “100 percent fabricated,” and he retweeted a tweet describing Zervos’s claim as a “hoax.” Zervos filed a defamation claim against Trump in January 2017 over those denials. Trump’s lawyers have taken the second appeal to the New York Court of Appeals, where they are awaiting a response.

Trump’s attorney Marc Kasowitz said the issue of whether or not a sitting president can be sued in state court should be taken up by the Supreme Court, calling the matter a “critical constitutional issue” that should be resolved before the case moves forward.