Summer Zervos, center, with attorneys Mariann Meier Wang, pictured right, and Gloria Allred, as they take questions from reporters following a hearing on Tuesday before Acting Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Schecter for Zervos' defamation suit against President Donald Trump. Photo Credit: Andrew Denney/NYLJ.

A lawyer for President Donald Trump argued before a state judge in Manhattan on Tuesday that Trump's denial of accusations by a former contestant on “The Apprentice” that Trump groped her a decade ago—which she had announced publicly a few weeks before the 2016 election—amounted to fiery campaign rhetoric, and could not therefore be construed as defamatory.

“She injected herself,” said Marc Kasowitz of Kasowitz Benson Torres, Trump's longtime personal lawyer. “She instigated a debate.”

But an attorney for Summer Zervos, who says Trump groped her on multiple occasions and who filed a defamation suit against the president just days after he was inaugurated for stating publicly that she lied about the alleged attacks, said Trump's statements about Zervos' credibility did not just fall into the realm of overheated campaign rhetoric.

“These are factual statements that are provably false,” said Mariann Meier Wang of New York City firm Cuti Hecker Wang in arguments before Acting Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Schecter regarding Trump's motion to dismiss the defamation suit.

Trump's attorneys also argue that a state judge like Schecter lacks jurisdiction over a civil case against a sitting president, but Kasowitz said the case appears to be the first where the matter is called into question.

Schecter reserved judgment on the motion and said she would rule at a later date.
Zervos' legal team also includes Gloria Allred and Nathan Goldberg of Allred, Maroko & Goldberg and Cuti Hecker partner Eric Hecker.

Kasowitz Benson attorneys Christine Montenegro and Paul Burgo are also on the president's legal team.

Zervos said that, in 2007, Trump subjected her to unwanted kissing and sexual contact on multiple occasions and, in one instance, attacked her in a hotel room.

But Zervos said she kept the story to herself for years and that she continued to look to Trump as a mentor, deciding that his alleged behavior amounted to an isolated set of incidents.

Zervos' decision to keep quiet changed in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential election, she said, after the release of an audio tape of comments that Trump made to Billy Bush on the set of “Access Hollywood.”

Zervos said that Trump's remarks on the tape made it clear to her that his behavior toward her was consistent with Trump's belief that he has a “right to sexually assault women.”

At an Oct. 9, 2016, presidential debate, Zervos' complaint states, Trump said that he had never done the things he bragged to Bush about and that his comments were nothing more than “locker room” talk.

After Zervos subsequently came forward, Trump denied meeting her in a hotel room or ever greeting her inappropriately.

At a campaign rally, Zervos' complaint alleges, Trump said that “every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign, total fabrication,” which she said is a reference to herself and other women who have accused Trump of sexual harassment, and that his accusers would be “sued once the election is over.”

At the hearing on the motion to dismiss Zervos' suit, Kasowitz argued that Trump's statements about his accusers are not actionable because they do not refer to Zervos directly.

As a threshold matter, Kasowitz argued that a state court lacks jurisdiction over the case. In making that argument he pointed to the U.S. Supreme Court's 1997 ruling in Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681, allowing Paula Jones, a  former Arkansas state employee, to bring a sexual harassment suit against President Bill Clinton.

Even though the justices allowed for Clinton to be haled into court, Kasowitz said that under the principles in that decision, a federal court would be a more appropriate venue when a president is a civil defendant. He argued it would be consistent with the Clinton v. Jones decision to hold a president immune from civil suits filed in state courts.

But Zervos' lawyers argued that the justices in Clinton's case did not rule on state court  jurisdiction over a civil action against a president.

Her lawyers also contend that, as with the case against Clinton, proceedings in Zervos' case could be conducted without impeding upon Trump's official duties.

Lawyers for Trump argued in the motion to dismiss that civil litigation would place a “substantial burden” on him, citing once again the example of Clinton v. Jones, which he argued impeded Clinton's ability to carry out his duties.

During the hearing Wang said that, given Trump's responsibilities, that Zervos' attorneys could be flexible in conducting procedures for the case, saying that they would even be willing to travel to the Mar-a-Lago Club to conduct a deposition with the president if the need arises.
“It is true that the president has to do his job 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Wang said. “It is also true that he is a human being who doesn't do his job 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

Summer Zervos, center, with attorneys Mariann Meier Wang, pictured right, and Gloria Allred, as they take questions from reporters following a hearing on Tuesday before Acting Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Schecter for Zervos' defamation suit against President Donald Trump. Photo Credit: Andrew Denney/NYLJ.

A lawyer for President Donald Trump argued before a state judge in Manhattan on Tuesday that Trump's denial of accusations by a former contestant on “The Apprentice” that Trump groped her a decade ago—which she had announced publicly a few weeks before the 2016 election—amounted to fiery campaign rhetoric, and could not therefore be construed as defamatory.

“She injected herself,” said Marc Kasowitz of Kasowitz Benson Torres, Trump's longtime personal lawyer. “She instigated a debate.”

But an attorney for Summer Zervos, who says Trump groped her on multiple occasions and who filed a defamation suit against the president just days after he was inaugurated for stating publicly that she lied about the alleged attacks, said Trump's statements about Zervos' credibility did not just fall into the realm of overheated campaign rhetoric.

“These are factual statements that are provably false,” said Mariann Meier Wang of New York City firm Cuti Hecker Wang in arguments before Acting Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Schecter regarding Trump's motion to dismiss the defamation suit.

Trump's attorneys also argue that a state judge like Schecter lacks jurisdiction over a civil case against a sitting president, but Kasowitz said the case appears to be the first where the matter is called into question.

Schecter reserved judgment on the motion and said she would rule at a later date.
Zervos' legal team also includes Gloria Allred and Nathan Goldberg of Allred, Maroko & Goldberg and Cuti Hecker partner Eric Hecker.

Kasowitz Benson attorneys Christine Montenegro and Paul Burgo are also on the president's legal team.

Zervos said that, in 2007, Trump subjected her to unwanted kissing and sexual contact on multiple occasions and, in one instance, attacked her in a hotel room.

But Zervos said she kept the story to herself for years and that she continued to look to Trump as a mentor, deciding that his alleged behavior amounted to an isolated set of incidents.

Zervos' decision to keep quiet changed in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential election, she said, after the release of an audio tape of comments that Trump made to Billy Bush on the set of “Access Hollywood.”

Zervos said that Trump's remarks on the tape made it clear to her that his behavior toward her was consistent with Trump's belief that he has a “right to sexually assault women.”

At an Oct. 9, 2016, presidential debate, Zervos' complaint states, Trump said that he had never done the things he bragged to Bush about and that his comments were nothing more than “locker room” talk.

After Zervos subsequently came forward, Trump denied meeting her in a hotel room or ever greeting her inappropriately.

At a campaign rally, Zervos' complaint alleges, Trump said that “every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign, total fabrication,” which she said is a reference to herself and other women who have accused Trump of sexual harassment, and that his accusers would be “sued once the election is over.”

At the hearing on the motion to dismiss Zervos' suit, Kasowitz argued that Trump's statements about his accusers are not actionable because they do not refer to Zervos directly.

As a threshold matter, Kasowitz argued that a state court lacks jurisdiction over the case. In making that argument he pointed to the U.S. Supreme Court's 1997 ruling in Clinton v. Jones , 520 U.S. 681, allowing Paula Jones, a  former Arkansas state employee, to bring a sexual harassment suit against President Bill Clinton.

Even though the justices allowed for Clinton to be haled into court, Kasowitz said that under the principles in that decision, a federal court would be a more appropriate venue when a president is a civil defendant. He argued it would be consistent with the Clinton v. Jones decision to hold a president immune from civil suits filed in state courts.

But Zervos' lawyers argued that the justices in Clinton's case did not rule on state court  jurisdiction over a civil action against a president.

Her lawyers also contend that, as with the case against Clinton, proceedings in Zervos' case could be conducted without impeding upon Trump's official duties.

Lawyers for Trump argued in the motion to dismiss that civil litigation would place a “substantial burden” on him, citing once again the example of Clinton v. Jones, which he argued impeded Clinton's ability to carry out his duties.

During the hearing Wang said that, given Trump's responsibilities, that Zervos' attorneys could be flexible in conducting procedures for the case, saying that they would even be willing to travel to the Mar-a-Lago Club to conduct a deposition with the president if the need arises.
“It is true that the president has to do his job 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Wang said. “It is also true that he is a human being who doesn't do his job 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”