Former ‘The Apprentice’ contestant drops lawsuit against Trump

The abrupt decision to discontinue the case spares Trump from being questioned under oath about accusations of unwanted kissing and groping in 2007.

Summer Zervos, a former contestant on The Apprentice who accused Donald Trump of sexual assault, on Friday ended her nearly five-year-old defamation lawsuit against the former U.S. president, without receiving an apology or compensation.

The abrupt decision to discontinue the case spares Trump from being questioned under oath about accusations he subjected Zervos to unwanted kissing and groping in 2007 after she had sought career advice.

Zervos had sued Trump in January 2017 in a New York state court in Manhattan, saying he harmed her reputation by calling such allegations by women “lies” and retweeting a post calling her claims a “hoax.”

Trump has also denied Zervos’ assault claims, calling them politically motivated. Zervos had appeared on Trump’s reality television show in 2005.

“Ms. Zervos no longer wishes to litigate against the defendant and has secured the right to speak freely about her experience,” her lawyers Beth Wilkinson and Moira Penza said in a joint statement. “Ms. Zervos stands by the allegations in her complaint.”

Trump, a Republican, had been seeking court permission to countersue Zervos for interfering with his right to speak freely, a right he said was protected under New York law.

Zervos’ lawyers called that effort an attempt to escape a court-ordered Dec. 23 deadline to be deposed.

“Ms. Zervos made the prudent decision to voluntarily drop her case without the exchange of any compensation or attorneys’ fees,” Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba said in an email. “She had no choice but to do so as the facts unearthed in this matter made it abundantly clear that our client did nothing wrong.”