Trump Lawyers Say Judge Lacks Jurisdiction for Defamation Lawsuit
U.S. President Donald Trump’s lawyers told a New York state judge on Tuesday that under the U.S. Constitution she had no jurisdiction over the president and therefore urged her to dismiss a defamation lawsuit by a woman who has accused Trump of sexual harassment, reports Reuters.
Summer Zervos, a former contestant on Trump’s reality show “The Apprentice,” contends that Trump’s denials of her accusations amounted to false and defamatory statements, according to reporter Jonathan Allen. She said she and her business have suffered harm because Trump branded her a liar.
Trump lawyer Marc Kasowitz told the judge that “a state court may not exercise jurisdiction over the president of the United States while he or she is in office.”
But the lead lawyer for Zervos pointed out that there is no case holding that a federal official can’t be held to account in state court.
