Trump Accuser's Defamation Suit To Be Heard In NYC Court Tuesday

NEW YORK, NY — President Donald Trump may have to face a woman who's accused him of sexual assault in Manhattan Supreme Court, depending on the outcome of arguments in the case Tuesday. Summer Zervos, a onetime contestant on Trump's reality TV show "The Apprentice," sued the Republican president for defamation after he dismissed her accusations that he sexually assaulted her.

Gloria Allred and Mariann Meier Wang, Zervos' high-profile lawyers, will be facing off in court Tuesday with Trump's legal team, led by the president's longtime personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, court records show. Trump's lawyers have asked Justice Jennifer G. Schecter to dismiss the case.

Zervos alleges that Trump sexually assaulted her in 2007 by forcefully kissing her, touching her breast and pressing his genitals against her, according to court papers. The incidents allegedly happened in New York City and in California. Zervos says the president later defamed her by calling her and other women's stories "totally false" and "100% fabricated and made-up."

As the Washington Post first noted, Trump could be called to testify in the case if Schecter allows it to proceed. That would force a sitting president to discuss one of the several sexual assault allegations against him under oath.

Legal experts told the Washington Post a New York City jury may be more sympathetic than others to Zervos' case. The trial could also come amid a national outcry about sexual harassment and abuse by powerful men, such as the film producer Harvey Weinstein and former "Today" host Matt Lauer.

Trump's lawyers reportedly argue Trump has presidential immunity and that his comments about Zervos are protected by the First Amendment. There's also a question about whether a sitting president can be sued in a state court for actions his earlier actions as a private citizen, according to the Post.

Read more about the case at the Washington Post.

Also See: Attorney Says President Is Not Above The Law

(Lead image: President Donald Trump speaks in Utah on Monday. Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)