Donald Trump’s campaign has released an email it says is from his accuser Summer Zervos to Rhona Graff, a high-level Trump official. You can read it in full above.
The email is part of Trump’s efforts to push back against allegations that he subjected Zervos and multiple other women to unwanted physical contact and advances. Trump denies all of the allegations.
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Attorney Gloria Allred (L) holds a press conference with Summer Zervos, a former candidate on The Apprentice season five, who is accusing Donald Trump of inappropriate sexual conduct October 14, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. This is the first time the accuser has spoken publicly about the alleged incident. (Getty)
The email released by the campaign on October 14 is dated April 14, 2016 and is addressed from Summer Zervos to Rhona Graff. Commdiginews has described Graff as “current assistant and a senior vice president” for Trump who “has worked with Trump for more than 25 (years) and describes him as, ‘brilliant, insightful, funny, charismatic and surprisingly down to earth.'”
The subject line of the email says “Summer Zervos Restaurant.”
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(Getty)
In it, Zervos writes, “I am in a unique situation being that I am the only former Apprentice who operates a business where Mr. Trump’s supporters can walk in, express their admiration for him and inquire about my experience.”
She continues, “Mr. Trump has a great deal of support in Huntington Beach, Cal. He has witnessed both my highs and lows operating a small business…we hire a diverse crew and embrace anyone who is honest while working hard. Mr. Trump is cut from the same cloth.”
The email concludes, “I would greatly appreciate reconnecting at this time… He will know my intentions are genuine.”
Zervos, who was a contestant on the Apprentice in 2006, alleges that in 2007 she met with Donald Trump to discuss a job opportunity, only for him to sexually harass her and thrust his genitals at her. She held a press conference with celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred to lodge the accusations against Trump.
According to The Hill, Zervos referenced the email, “along with another message sent a few days later, in her tearful press conference Friday” and said “she wanted to confront Trump and give him the ‘opportunity to clear the air.'”
Allred said in the press conference that she had spoken to several people who Zervos told about the incident at the time and who can corroborate her account. Trump adamantly denies the claims of Zervos and other women who have come forward.
The Trump campaign also released an email from Zervos’ cousin, John Barry, in which he claims that Zervos spoke positively about Trump until Trump declined an invitation to come to her restaurant. Read more about that statement here:
In January 2017, Summer Zervos filed a lawsuit against Trump. Read more about that here.
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