03-20-2018, 04:12 PM
Trials & Tribulations
Judge Curiel, who Trump claimed was biased against him because Curiel is Mexican (Curiel is American) ruled last month that Trump was within his rights to build a border wall and could start in San Diego. Trump and team have chosen to hold off; they don't have the $20 billion budget they're requesting.
![[Image: DonaldTrumpSummerZervos.jpg]](https://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/DonaldTrumpSummerZervos.jpg)
Today, however, Trump and his attorneys lost their legal battle to stave off the defamation case filed against Trump by Summer Zervos. Zervos claims Trump groped her while she was a contestant on “The Apprentice,” in 2007 and then ruined her reputation by calling her a liar when she told her story.
Lawyers for Trump argued that he was immune from the suit in state court while serving as president, but Judge Jennifer Schechter ruled that there was “absolutely no authority” to justify tossing out litigation over “unofficial conduct.”
“No one is above the law,” Schechter wrote in her 18-page decision. “Nothing in the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution even suggests that the President cannot be called to account before a state court for wrongful conduct that bears no relationship to any federal executive responsibility.”
The judge also declined an alternative request from Trump’s attorneys that the case be put on hold until he left office. “There are no compelling reasons for delaying plaintiff’s day in court here,” Schechter wrote.
The ruling raises the possibility that Trump could be ordered to submit to a deposition about his conduct toward Zervos and perhaps other women, as well. Trump’s lawyer in the case, Marc Kasowitz, signaled on Tuesday that he would fight any such moves.
Full story: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/2...uit-474026
Judge Curiel, who Trump claimed was biased against him because Curiel is Mexican (Curiel is American) ruled last month that Trump was within his rights to build a border wall and could start in San Diego. Trump and team have chosen to hold off; they don't have the $20 billion budget they're requesting.
Today, however, Trump and his attorneys lost their legal battle to stave off the defamation case filed against Trump by Summer Zervos. Zervos claims Trump groped her while she was a contestant on “The Apprentice,” in 2007 and then ruined her reputation by calling her a liar when she told her story.
Lawyers for Trump argued that he was immune from the suit in state court while serving as president, but Judge Jennifer Schechter ruled that there was “absolutely no authority” to justify tossing out litigation over “unofficial conduct.”
“No one is above the law,” Schechter wrote in her 18-page decision. “Nothing in the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution even suggests that the President cannot be called to account before a state court for wrongful conduct that bears no relationship to any federal executive responsibility.”
The judge also declined an alternative request from Trump’s attorneys that the case be put on hold until he left office. “There are no compelling reasons for delaying plaintiff’s day in court here,” Schechter wrote.
The ruling raises the possibility that Trump could be ordered to submit to a deposition about his conduct toward Zervos and perhaps other women, as well. Trump’s lawyer in the case, Marc Kasowitz, signaled on Tuesday that he would fight any such moves.
Full story: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/2...uit-474026