Could Donald Trump Be Forced To Testify At His Own Sexual Harassment Trial?


In the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election, 16 different women accused then-candidate Donald Trump of sexual misconduct ranging from sexual harassment to assault to rape. One of those women was Summer Zervos, who had been a contestant on The Apprentice. Zervos claimed that, in December 2007, Trump kissed her, groped her breast, and began “thrusting his genitals” during two alleged assaults at Trump Tower New York and The Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles. Trump claimed at the time and continues to maintain that Zervos and the 15 other women were lying. In January of this year, Zervos, along with her attorney Gloria Allred, filed a defamation of character lawsuit against the president. Based on what the judge on the case decides on Tuesday, Donald Trump could be forced to publicly testify, not only to his treatment of Zervos but also to the truthfulness of what he said about her in the aftermath of her allegations.

According to an article in The Washington Post, Trump may have made a serious tactical error by branding Zervos and the other women who accused him “liars,” rather than simply denying the accusations. By telling the cheering crowds at his campaign rallies that the allegations against him were “total fabrications” and “fake news,” he opened himself up to the kind of defamation of character lawsuit that female accusers have previously brought against Bill Cosby. What’s more, if Trump is compelled to testify, he could be forced to answer questions from Allred not only on his conduct with Zervos but with the other women who have accused him as well. Back in October, Allred filed a motion with the court for the White House to turn over all information pertaining to any of the women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct.

For their part, Trump’s lawyers have moved to dismiss the case, arguing, according to an article in Business Insider, that a sitting president cannot be sued in court and that the suit against him should be thrown out or at least delayed until after the president’s term is over. You may remember, however, that this argument didn’t work for Bill Clinton when he used it to try and avoid answering questions in court about his relationship with Paula Jones. Further, it was Clinton’s failure to be entirely truthful under oath that eventually led to his impeachment.

Zervos is alleging in her suit that Trump’s repeated claims that she was a liar have irreparably harmed her reputation and caused her trauma and distress.

“After he called me a liar I was threatened, bullied and saw my business targeted.”

The Washington Post article goes on to say that, if Trump is compelled to testify, it could possibly lead to a subpoena of the long-rumored “Apprentice outtakes” that have been said to contain footage of Trump making disparaging remarks about women, minorities and even his own son, Barron.

Summer Zervos, right, with her attorney Gloria Allred.

All of this comes on the heels of recently published rumors that Trump is starting to deny to those in his inner circle that it really was his voice saying “grab her by the p**sy” on the now infamous Access Hollywood tape that was released to the public right before the 2016 election. Trump at the time admitted that it was, in fact, him speaking and apologized for what he called “locker room talk,” but he is now said to be wondering aloud whether it really was him. On Saturday, Billy Bush, who was the person Trump was alleged to be speaking to in the tape, published an editorial in The New York Times where he states that he and several other men in the room at the time can verify that it really was Donald Trump who uttered the words captured in the Access Hollywood footage.

A lot of parties will be waiting with interest for the judge’s decision on Tuesday, not the least of which will be Summer Zervos and the 15 other women who have accused Trump of sexual impropriety. The decision could affect many women who might accuse powerful men for generations. More than that, Tuesday’s decision could very well alter, for better or worse, the future of the United States of America.

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