The papers have been filed by lawyers on behalf of Summer Zervos who accused Trump of smearing her on the campaign trail after she went public with allegations he groped her in 2007. The papers follow on from Trump's legal argument that a President can not be sued in state court while in office. At the time his representatives also said the President was too busy for any such action.

Argument

Trump attorney Marc Kasowitz said last month that he would argue that Miss Zervos must put her defamation suit on hold until President Trump leaves office because the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution ‘immunises the President from being sued in state court while in office’. However, this has been dismissed by Miss Zervos’ laywer Mariann Wang who wrote: ‘Precisely because (Trump's) underlying tortious behavior has nothing to do with his current duties or office, and because it occurred before he took that office, he does not have immunity from suit. No person is above the law in the country, including the President of the United States.

Precedent

Former President Bill Clinton unsuccessfully made the same legal argument being made by President Trump. In 1997 the Supreme Court that he would have to respond to a federal lawsuit brought against him by Paula Jones alleging sexual harassment.