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Sarah Waychoff
By Sarah Waychoff April 19, 2017

Trump-O-Meter update: Sue his accusers of sexual misconduct

During the presidential campaign, more than a dozen women accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct. He called them liars and promised to sue the accusers after the election was over.

Since Trump has taken office, he has not talked publicly on the subject.

In October 2016, the Washington Post released a video showing Trump using vulgar terms about women. The conversation from 2005 was caught on a hot microphone with him saying that, "when you're a star, they let you do it."

The surfacing of this video prompted numerous women to come forward with claims against Trump. These accusers have filed lawsuits against Trump, but he vehemently denies the accusations. He has even gone as far as to threaten to sue the New York Times, which reported some of the accusations.

"The events never happened. Never. All of these liars will be sued after the election is over," Trump said during an Oct. 22 speech in Gettysburg, Pa.

Since taking office, Trump has made no mention of his plans to sue. Meanwhile, published reports have said Trump will not sue his accusers. The reports, which we saw in the New York Daily News just after the November election, quote unnamed sources.

Other news on this front came March 27, 2017.

Trump's lawyers argued in New York's top court that Trump's schedule doesn't allow him to face a defamation lawsuit.

The suit was filed just three days before Trump's inauguration in January by a contestant on The Apprentice in 2006, Summer Zervos. She accused Trump of making non-consensual sexual advances.

Trump's lawyers argued that the case should be dismissed or postponed until after the president leaves office. His lawyers also cited the precedent in U.S. Supreme Court decisions that "show deference to the president" and his power.

Zervos is calling for Trump to apologize and pay $2,914.

Trump "denies these unfounded accusations" and will be prepared to show it is "false, legally insufficient and made in a transparent politically-motivated attack," his lawyers wrote in the filing.


Trump has yet to sue any of his accusers since taking office. Absent any action on that front, we rate this Promise Broken.

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