Lawyers for President Donald Trump were in court Friday to ask for the dismissal of a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former contestant of "The Apprentice," The Hill reported Saturday.
Summer Zervos, who appeared in 2006 on the president's former NBC reality show, claimed Trump defamed her with remarks he made about her sexual harassment accusations during his 2016 presidential campaign, the Washington Post reported.
Trump attorney Marc Kasowitz argued for the dismissal or postponement of the case, stating the president cannot be sued in state court while in office. He also maintained Zervos' claims were false and that she was trying to defame the president.
Zervos said Trump assaulted her at his bungalow at The Beverly Hills Hotel where she went to meet with him to discuss a job with the Trump organization a year after she appeared on the show.
Eleven women came forward accusing Trump of sexual harassment while he was running for office in 2016 after an "Access Hollywood" video from 2005 surfaced where he bragged about grabbing women.
Kasowitz argued remarks Trump made on the campaign trail regarding the women who made the claims was "nothing more than heated campaign rhetoric designed to persuade the public audience that Mr. Trump should be elected president irrespective of what the media and his opponents had claimed over his 18-month campaign."
There was no immediate reaction from Zervos' attorney, Gloria Allred. They will have until August to respond to Kasowitz's filing.