AP Photos/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, left, and Ringo H.W. Chiu, Files
- Trump issued a jubilant statement after Summer Zervos dropped a defamation lawsuit against him.
- Zervos claimed Trump had defamed when he denied her allegations of sexual assault.
- With no active lawsuit, Trump avoids the potential embarrassment of being questioned under oath.
Former President Donald Trump issued a triumphant statement after Summer Zervos, who alleged that he sexually assaulted her, dropped a defamation lawsuit against him.
"The lawsuit brought by a woman who made up false accusations against President Trump for publicity or money has just been dropped in its totality," Trump said in a statement via his spokesperson Liz Harrington.
-Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) November 12, 2021
She also claimed, falsely, that the development meant that Trump was "totally vindicated."
Though Zervos' allegation is no longer due to be tested in court, the absence of a case does not prove Trump's innocence.
Her lawyers said, in a statement cited by Reuters: "Ms. Zervos no longer wishes to litigate against the defendant and has secured the right to speak freely about her experience."
"Ms. Zervos stands by the allegations in her complaint."
Zervos, who appeared on "The Apprentice" when Trump was its host, brought the lawsuit in 2017, just before Trump became president. It argued that Trump defamed her by denying that he had sexually assaulted her.
Zervos claimed that Trump kissed her against her will in 2007, and groped her on a separate occasion.
Lawyers for Trump filed a counterclaim in October this year, arguing that the defamation claim was invalid because Trump's denial was the truth.
Zervos dropping the suit spares Trump the potential embarrassment of being questioned under oath about the allegations.
A New York judge had previously ruled that Trump's and Zervos's lawyers should complete a factual discovery phase by December, which would have required Trump to sit for a deposition, Insider's Morgan Keith and Jacob Shamsian previously reported.