New York Court Says Defamation Suit Against Trump Can Move Forward
A New York appellate court ruled Thursday that a defamation lawsuit brought against President Donald Trump by a former “Apprentice” contestant can move forward.
A lawyer for Trump said he plans to appeal the decision.
Trump had appealed a lower court’s ruling last year that allowed the case to proceed, arguing that the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause bars a lawsuit against a sitting president in state court because it would interfere with his duties.
Mariann Wang, the lawyer for the plaintiff, Summer Zervos, argued that a president is not above the law and said the US Supreme Court’s ruling in Clinton v. Jones backs up her argument that Trump can be sued in state court.
Judges in the appellate division of the first judicial department agreed with Zervos.
Zervos is suing Trump for defamation after he publicly called her a liar following her claims in October 2016 that Trump sexually assaulted her a decade earlier.
