A New York appellate court ruled Thursday that President Trump can be sued in civil court while he’s in office, thereby allowing the suit brought by former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos to proceed. In 2016, Zervos claimed that Trump groped her—and after Trump said that she was telling “phony stories,” she filed a defamation suit. Trump argued that as the sitting president of the United States, the Supremacy Clause makes him immune to civil suits—but the court ruled Thursday that the claim “has no support in the constitutional text or case law.” Although he is tasked with some of the country’s most significant responsibilities, the court added, “the president is still a person, and he is not above the law.”
Zervos’ attorney heralded the decision: “We are very pleased that the First Department has affirmed once again that Defendant ‘is not above the law,’” attorney Mariann Wang wrote in a statement obtained by The Daily Beast. Wang added that “We look forward to proving to a jury that Ms. Zervos told the truth about Defendant’s unwanted sexual groping and holding him accountable for his malicious lies.”
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