A New York judge not only ruled (once again) that a defamation lawsuit brought against Donald Trump by a former Apprentice contestant can move forward, but also that he can deposed in the matter. Politico writes:
[Summer] Zervos is one of more than a dozen women who have accused Trump of unwanted sexual contact. The president has vehemently denied all of the women’s claims, which he called “100 percent fabricated,” and he retweeted a tweet describing Zervos’s claim as a “hoax.” Zervos filed a defamation claim against Trump in January 2017 over those denials.
Lawyers for both sides must issue their demands for documents as part of discovery by July 13, and those responses must be provided by Sept. 27, Judge Jennifer Schechter ordered Tuesday. Both parties are ordered to submit third party subpoenas by March 23, 2019.
Schechter ordered both parties to submit to depositions too, with a deadline of Jan. 31, 2019. All depositions of people who are “non-parties” to the case must be conducted by Feb. 28. She ordered fact discovery to be completed by April 12.
Trump's lawyers have repeatedly sought to block the suit only to be rejected every time. They are currently in the process of appealing the suit to New York's highest court.
Although Schechter wrote that "No one is above the law" in her first rebuff of Trump's request, his lawyers think he is.
Trump's attorney Marc Kasowitz said the issue of whether or not a sitting president can be sued in state court should be taken up by the Supreme Court, calling the matter a "critical constitutional issue" that should be resolved before the case moves forward.