A New York judge said Tuesday that a defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump related to an allegation that he sexually harassed a former Apprentice contestant may go forward.
Summer Zervos filed the suit last year after Trump said publicly that she and other women making similar claims made them up. Trump sought to block the legal action, but New York Supreme Court Judge Jennifer Schecter, citing court precedent that led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1998, said "a sitting president is not immune from being sued in federal court for unofficial acts."
Trump has repeatedly said that all of the women who accused him of touching them inappropriately were lying -- a sentiment his White House reiterated as questions resurfaced about the allegations.
Trump's attorneys argued that the president cannot be sued in state court and that the comments he made were political opinion and, as a result, "squarely protected by the First Amendment."
Schechter's decision comes as lawyers representing Trump face another suit -- this one filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in early March by porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims Trump sought to silence her shortly before the 2016 election. The $130,000 hush agreement was intended to prevent her from speaking out about an alleged affair that began at a celebrity golf tournament in 2006, said Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
Zervos first made public her claims against Trump at an October 2016 news conference, as one of a parade of women who accused him of misconduct after the release of an Access Hollywood recording capturing the future president boasting in graphic language about groping women. At a presidential debate, Trump denied ever doing the things he described in the recording, which some of his accusers said prompted them to come forward.
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Zervos has accused Trump of aggressively kissing her and groping her breasts while she was pursuing a job at his company, accusations he said were untrue.
In January 2017, Zervos filed a suit in New York State Supreme Court against Trump, arguing that Trump defamed her by denying her account and calling his accusers "liars." Attorneys for Trump pushed back on multiple fronts, arguing that the suit was "politically motivated" and was built around "allegations of events that never occurred."
Also Tuesday, a former Playboy Playmate of the Year said the owner of the National Enquirer tricked her into signing a contract that forced her to be silent about an affair she claims she had with Trump in 2006 and 2007.
Karen McDougal said in a complaint filed Tuesday in Los Angeles that American Media Inc. paid $150,000 in 2016 for her story without publishing it because David Pecker, the company's owner, is a close personal friend of Trump.
Common Cause filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission last month, claiming that American Media's "catch and kill" payment to McDougal violated the Federal Election Campaign Act. The $150,000 sum is described in the complaint as an undisclosed, illegal corporate contribution to the Trump campaign to influence the 2016 election.
McDougal also said she's been asked by BuzzFeed Inc. to preserve documents for a defamation lawsuit filed by Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, against the news website.
Information for this article was contributed by Mark Berman and Frances Stead Sellers of The Washington Post and by Edvard Pettersson of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 03/21/2018