Though the story largely faded after last fall’s election, Donald Trump was recorded in 2005 bragging about committing sexual assaults. The Republican said, among other things, that he kisses women he considers attractive — “I don’t even wait,” Trump claimed at the time — which he said he can get away with because of his public profile.
“When you’re a star, they let you do it,” Trump said on the recording. “You can do anything. Grab ’em by the p—y.”
After Trump denied having done what he bragged about doing, 11 women came forward to accuse the Republican of sexual misconduct — one of whom, Summer Zervos, is currently suing the president for defamation, after Trump insisted each of his accusers is a liar.
BuzzFeed reported yesterday the latest development in this ongoing litigation.
A high-stakes legal showdown is brewing for President Donald Trump, as a woman who said he groped her has subpoenaed all documents from his campaign pertaining to “any woman alleging that Donald J. Trump touched her inappropriately.” […]
Summer Zervos, a former contestant on the Trump’s reality TV show The Apprentice, accused Trump of kissing and grabbing her when she went to his bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2007 to discuss a possible job at the Trump Organization…. As part of that suit, her lawyers served a subpoena on his campaign, asking that it preserve all documents it had about her.
Note, while the lawsuit isn’t new, we weren’t aware of the detail highlighted by BuzzFeed. The subpoena was entered into the court file on Sept. 19, nearly four weeks ago.
The article added that Zervos and her lawyer have asked for “all documents” related to the president’s other accusers.
The president’s private legal team has tried to make the case go away — Trump has denied doing anything wrong — arguing among other things that the case could “distract a President from his public duties to the detriment of not only the President and his office but also the Nation.”
Though the cases have some important differences, Bill Clinton’s lawyers tried a similar tack in the Paula Jones case in the 1990s, and it didn’t work out for the sitting president.
NBC News’ report on this added that Gloria Allred, Summer Zervos’ attorney, said Trump and his lawyers “must reply to their filed opposition of his motion to dismiss by Oct 31. The court will schedule a hearing for argument once he files his reply, which means there is no hearing date yet.”
Postscript: Shortly before the election, Trump vowed to file suits of his own against the women who accused him of sexual misconduct. To date, that hasn’t happened.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."