Posted on 02/23/2016 11:48:43 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Here's a part of the political calendar that nobody in the Republican Party seems to have noticed: This spring, just as the GOP nomination battle enters its final phase, frontrunner Donald Trump could be forced to take time out for some unwanted personal business: He's due to take the witness stand in a federal courtroom in San Diego, where he is being accused of running a financial fraud.
In court filings last Friday, lawyers for both sides in a long-running civil lawsuit over the now defunct Trump University named Trump on their witness lists. That makes it all but certain that the reality-show star and international businessman will be forced to be grilled under oath over allegations in the lawsuit that he engaged in deceptive trade practices and scammed thousands of students who enrolled in his "university" courses in response to promises he would make them rich in the real estate market.
Although the case has been winding its way through the courts for the past five years - and Trump has denied all wrongdoing - the final pretrial conference is now slated for May 6, according to the latest pleadings in the case. No trial date has been set, but the judge has indicated his interest in moving the case forward, the pleadings show.
"This is pretty amazing," said Scott Reed, a veteran Republican Party consultant, about Trump's upcoming due date in federal court. "Usually, you clean this stuff up before you run for president."
Trump's new lead lawyer in the case, Daniel Petrocelli, best known for representing one of the slain murder victims in a civil suit against O.J. Simpson, did not respond to emailed questions about Trump's upcoming testimony, including how long he expects his client to be on the witness stand.
As noted by Yahoo News last week, the Trump University case has already intruded on Trump's political schedule. On Dec. 10, 2015, during a day he was making international headlines over his pledge to ban Muslim immigrants from the United States, Trump managed to escape any press attention and give a closed-door pretrial deposition in the case, according to court filings reviewed by Yahoo News. Exactly what he said in the deposition remains under seal, but lawyers for Tarla Makaeff, a California yoga instructor who is the lead plaintiff in the case, cited portions of his testimony (blacked out in her pleadings) to support their contention that Trump has threatened to ruin her financially for bringing the lawsuit and that she needs protection from his "retaliation."
But the upcoming civil trial could be a much bigger burden on Trump's time. If it takes place in May, that would put it in the middle of the final phase of the GOP primary schedule: Nebraska and West Virginia vote on May 10, Oregon on May 17, and Washington state on May 24. Then on June 7, the biggest prize of all: the California primary (with 172 delegates at stake). New Jersey, Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota vote the same day.
While it is unclear how long the trial over Trump University will take, both sides have submitted lengthy witness lists: 72 individuals have been identified as prospective witnesses by the two sides. The case shows little sign of being settled. Trump just last December hired Petrocelli, a master litigator, and he recently identified 965 trial exhibits he expects to use at trial, including PowerPoint presentations, course curriculums, emails, letters, videos and other material. Picking jurors who have neutral views on Trump could present another time-consuming hurdle.
The core case revolves around the operations of a school Trump launched in 2005 with a promotional You Tube video, as well as ads that proclaimed, "I can turn anyone into a successful real estate investor, including you," "Are YOU My Next Apprentice?" and "Learn from my handpicked experts how you can profit from the largest real estate liquidation in history." The plaintiffs, former students at Trump University, allege they were misled into maxing out their credit cards and paying up to $60,000 in fees for seminars in hotel ballrooms and "mentoring" by Trump's "hand-picked" real estate experts. The lawsuit against the school, which is no longer in business, alleges the seminars turned into little more than an "infomercial" and the Trump mentors offered "no practical advice" and "mostly disappeared." New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed a separate suit in 2013 alleging fraud on the part of the "university," which was never an accredited institution and awarded no degrees.
Art of the Deal:
The final key to the way I promote is bravado.
I play to people's fantasies.
People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do.
That's why a little hyperbole never hurts.
People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular.
I call it truthful hyperbole.
It's an innocent form of exaggeration
and a very effective form of promotion. - Source
Oh we noticed, you are rather LATE with this supposed “news”,and by the time this gets to a court, Trump will be PRESIDENT and sitting in the Oval Office.
Will it hurt him? NO
People get sued every day. I got sued once.
Big deal.
Something tells me you have a YUGE crush on Trump and you keep fighting it by posting all these retreaded articles.
yahoo ?
Isikoff ?
sinking low .....
One of his many scammings of the little guy that the Democrats will be happy to expose. Heard on a radio show tonight a guy familiar with Trump’s NJ casino bankruptcies that said he ripped those companies to shreds and destroyed tons of jobs just to line his own pockets at the expense of the little guy.
I have been on FR all evening, with some time away, when I was happily on the phone with friends.
LOL...gossip.
Little noticed while he has emerged as the Republican frontrunner for president, Trump remains mired in litigation on multiple fronts. In addition to defending the Trump University suits, he has initiated legal action in the past year against restaurateurs and the Univision network after they pulled out of business deals over his comments about Mexican immigrants. He has also recently threatened to sue rival Ted Cruz on the grounds that he is not eligible to be president because he was born in Canada. At a CNN forum Thursday night, in response to a question about his propensity to threaten opponents with lawsuits, Trump replied, in part, "I have wonderful lawyers. I like to send letters."
Just last week - three days before Makaeff made her court filing - a judge in Washington, D.C., overruled the objections of Trump's lawyers and ordered him to submit to a deposition in a suit he filed against one of the restaurateurs.
As Yahoo News noted in August, none of these cases would go away were Trump elected president. In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that presidents are not immune from civil litigation while in office, rejecting Bill Clinton's claim that he should not be subjected to a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by a former Arkansas state employee, Paula Jones." -- Trump is accused of financially threatening woman during secret deposition
24/7 Negative Trump articles.
"I receive this question almost more than any other: Why don't you support Donald Trump? I've met the man, his camp asked me to introduce him at CPAC in 2015, he was perfectly amiable. He's been on my radio and TV programs more than any other primary candidate. I just can't get on board with his lack of consistency or his policies. So, to answer the question: A bulleted list of items that helped shape my opinion on the Republican primary candidate. All information is public domain as reported in the press, easily found everywhere online. You're certainly welcome to your own opinion, but this is what contributed to mine. As I give courtesy to diverse opinion on the topic, so do I expect it in return.
--> Trump says he will "hire the best minds" as president but according to the news items below, apparently did not vet his own business partners."...........................................................................................
C’mon, there’s got to be more articles from EE at Red State or Huffington Post coming. Maybe Mother Jones!
I'm just in a VERY happy mood. :-)
GO TRUMP, GO....OUR NEXT PRESIDENT!
Oh go sit in a corner and cry in your beer! ;^)
trump’s a liar and a fraud...proof this lawsuit!
Did trump try to financially ruin this working class woman??? Wow, how nasty!!!!
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY, DOUGHTY ! :-)
There, I fixed it for ya.
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