Trump to provide written answers under oath in libel suit

President Trump speaks at a fundraiser in Sioux Falls, S.D., Sept. 7, 2018.

(Associated Press)

President Trump is expected to provide sworn written responses later this month in a defamation suit filed by a former apprentice candidate, a court said Friday.

The defendant, Summer Zervos, filed a defamation suit in early 2017 after Trump called her a liar for allegedly trying and forcibly kissed her in a hotel in 2007. Trump denied claims.

Zervos, who owns a restaurant in California, said Trump's denial undermined his credibility and ability to make a living.

Trump's lawyers agreed to exchange "written answers and objections" to formal questions no later than September 28, the Washington Post reported, citing the document filed with the New York State Supreme Court.

Providing false answers after taking the oath would open the president to perjury charges. Trump's lawyers have tried unsuccessfully to circumvent the stipulation several times this year, the Post reported.

Mariann Wang, Zervos' lawyer, declined the post's request to comment on the agreement. Marc Kasowitz, President Trump's lawyer, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to the newspaper.

A August 29 letter released on Friday said Wang had written to Judge Jennifer G. Schecter to tell her that Trump's lawyers and the Trump Organization were blocking her requests for documents, the Post reported.

"There is no doubt that the defendant has the practical ability – and indeed the obligation – to direct the preservation and collection of documents tailored to the Trump organization," Wang would have written.

The Zervos case is one of the many cases pending against the president. Adult film star Stormy Daniels, whose case has been more publicized, is trying to invalidate a non-disclosure agreement of 2016 that prevents him from talking about an alleged sexual relationship with the president 12 years ago .

But the Daniels case has been delayed, as federal authorities are investigating Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty last month to violating federal campaign finance laws when he poured money out of his pocket. money to Daniels.