After a fairly quiet post-election period in this regard, President Trump is again facing a legal fight over claims that he sexually assaulted women in his prior life as a private citizen and business figure.
The president's latest legal challenge comes in the form of a subpoena which seeks all documents from his campaign as related to "any woman alleging that Donald J. Trump touched her inappropriately." As Buzzfeed first reported Sunday, the subpoena was issued at the request of legal representatives for Summer Zervos, a former reality show contestant on the Trump-hosted The Apprentice, who has accused the now-president of kissing and groping her at his Beverly Hills Hotel bungalow in 2007 after she'd come to discuss possible employment with the Trump Organization.
According to Buzzfeed, the subpoena was issued in March, but was only entered into the court file last month. The White House has been reached out to for comment, which will be included here when and if available.
Trump previously denied Zervos' allegation in plain terms, calling it a lie. In response, Zervos sued Trump for defamation, while her lawyers subpoenaed the Trump campaign for any documents it had pertaining to her, Buzzfeed reported.
Lawyers for president Trump have argued that the subpoena is too broad, and aimed to have the lawsuit delayed 'til he's out of office, if not outright dismissed. They've also suggested that the president is protected from civil suits while in office, and that this particular case is a politically motivated attempt to harass him, Buzzfeed noted.
During the course of Trump's pre-political career, numerous women made allegations against him of sexual harassment and assault in various contexts, including production of the Miss Universe pageant and Apprentice TV show (and warranting a Wikipedia page dedicated to the topic, if nothing else).
In the months leading up to the November 2016 presidential election, many women chose to reiterate their claims or step forward anew, as in the cases of former Trump business partner Jill Harth and yoga instructor Karena Virginia. Following Trump's election, however, many of these cases have received little further attention.
According to attorney Gloria Allred, who's representing Zervos along with other Trump accusers, the president has until Oct. 31 to respond to their motion. She told Buzzfeed in a statement, “We are hopeful that the court will deny President Trump’s motion to dismiss, so that we may move forward with discovery and obtain relevant documents and testimony."