A defamation lawsuit filed against Donald Trump by a former "The Apprentice" reality actress, who accused him of sexual harassment, can be tried, a New York court has ruled, increasing the chances that the American president will be forced to answer questions about his behavior towards women.
Judge Jennifer Secter in the Manhattan Supreme Court ruled that there is "absolutely no legitimacy" to reject or postpone the civil lawsuit filed by Summer Zervos, because Donald Trump is the President of the United States.
"No one is above the law," the court wrote in its ruling.
This decision may force the tycoon to be questioned by Zervos's lawyers and lead to further scrutiny by the authorities for allegations of sexual misconduct against the US president.
During the 2016 election campaign, Zervos, a restaurant owner, was among several women who accused Trump of misconduct after a conversation was recorded in 2005, unbeknownst to the Republican, while the microphone was open and the billionaire described using vulgar expressions his efforts for love affairs with women.
Zervos met Donald Trump after appearing on NBC's "The Apprentice" in 2005 and accused him of kissing her without her consent at his New York office in 2007. Later, at a meeting in Beverly Hills about the possibility of cooperate professionally, according to her, healed her.
Throughout his election campaign, the US president reiterated that all the accusations against him, after the release of the recorded material, were "lies". He even reproduced on Twitter the message of another user who characterized Summer's accusations as "fraud".
"The repeated statements of the accused… cannot be characterized simply as his opinion, strong rhetoric or exaggeration," the court decision emphasizes.
