Donald Trump Seeks To Postpone Trump University Racketeering Trial, Possible Impeachable Offenses, Until After Inauguration


A motion was filed in federal court in San Diego, California, yesterday, from the lawyers of Donald Trump, seeking yet another delay in his Trump University fraud and racketeering trials according to Politico. He has been seeking delays for six years. Lawyers for Donald Trump are asking the federal court to delay the trial yet again, until after Inauguration Day, so that Donald Trump could focus on preparing for the Presidency.

This comes in the face of many experts, pundits, and celebrities, calling for Donald Trump’s impeachment, since he became President-elect this past week. A petition to the White House calling for Trump’s impeachment has been launched as well, and has almost 100,000 signatures at the time of press.

Politico reported that Trump’s lawyers have asked that the fraud trial for the class action lawsuit assembled by many alleged fraud victims of Trump University be delayed, saying in their motion last night that he was “too busy to deal with the case.” Donald Trump is named as the defendant in the case, by plaintiffs that say he did not deliver the so-called Trump University as promised.

That a President-elect is facing a multiple plaintiff fraud case is an unprecedented event according to Politico. Also, it is not the only legal problem he has before he is set to take the oath of office. Additionally, both sides of the trial were strongly urged to settle last week by Judge Gonzalo Curiel according to Reuters. Trump refuses.

The upcoming trial will take place in San Diego, California, a notably blue state won by Hillary Clinton in the election. It will be a jury trial according to Politico. While the lawyers for Trump argued for a stay in their motion, they also told the federal court they would be open to Donald Trump giving another deposition before he is set to be sworn in on January 20. Politico stated that the lawyers wrote the following.

“The President-Elect should not be required to stand trial during the next two months while he prepares to assume the Presidency. The time and attention to prepare and testify will take him away from imperative transition work at a critical time.”

Lawyers for Donald Trump did stress they were not seeking a stay until after he leaves office. This, Politico stated, would be a “non starter” as former President Bill Clinton had a ruling against him in 1997 by the Supreme Court in a sexual harassment suit, with the ruling indicating that lawsuits can move forward on sitting presidents when they involve actions that were committed prior to taking office.

Donald Trump has also sought to have things that he said on the campaign trail excluded from the upcoming fraud and racketeering trials. Judge Conzalo Curiel, who has been harshly rebuked by Donald Trump for being Mexican, rejected that bid according to Reuters.

Donald Trump also sought to have speeches, debate comments, comments about people in general, tweets, tax return issues, comments about the case, personal conduct allegations, and other litigation comments in addition to many more things excluded from the upcoming trial.

That was denied.

MSN reported that speaking outside the courtroom, Trump’s lawyers said the following.

“The nation is just beginning a long healing process and I think the last thing we need right now is to have a trial about events that occurred seven years ago in which President-elect Trump is a personal defendant.”

A lawyer representing the alleged fraud victims reportedly said, Mr. Trump has already attempted to delay the trial when it was initially agreed the trial would take place after the election. Trial is currently set for November 28.

MSN reported that representation for the plaintiffs, Patrick Coughlin had the following to say.

“There was always a possibility this would happen. That’s why we asked for the trial to begin in August [2016]. They wanted it to begin after, well, where we are today, so they picked this date. We assumed they wouldn’t be making this argument. We’re ready to go, we don’t think this changes anything – he’s the President-elect, he’s not sitting in office.”

During the election campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly stated that he would win this trial. He also made frequent statements about how he thought Judge Gonzalo Curiel would be biased in this case due to the fact that his parents were from Mexico according to MSN.

Despite his former confidence, Trump has sought yet another delay, against plaintiffs that have been waiting for six years for this trial to come to fruition. As the Inquisitr previously reported in September of this year, before the election, this case is an important one regarding Trump’s role in office, as many experts believe it sets a stage for impeachable offenses.

Christopher Peterson of the University of Utah has written a report on the topic, titled “Trump University and Presidential Impeachment.” His paper states that current fraud and racketeering cases that Donald Trump is facing right now as the defendant, rise to the level of impeachable offenses and that sitting presidents have been impeached for less. Peterson, a law professor who has examined all of the case documents, writes the following in his study.

“In the United States, it is illegal to use false statements to convince consumers to purchase their services. The evidence indicates that Trump University used a systemic pattern of fraudulent representations to trick thousands of families into investing in a program that can be argued was a sham. Fraud and racketeering are serious crimes that legally rise to the level of impeachable acts.”

The Trump University set up is a case where the alleged fraud reaches into Canada, where a Canadian couple were reportedly sanctioned by securities regulators over a reported “multimillion-dollar swindle.” The couple were taken to court, with records and bankruptcy filings discovered by Canadian Press and Associated Press showing they used at least nine different aliases during their time collecting money on the so-called Trump University reports CTV News.

The fraud case expected to begin November 28 is only one of the cases Trump is facing today. Politico said the other is expected to begin “shortly thereafter.” Trump’s team is also reportedly asking that he only testify once, and to do so through recorded testimony, without having to actually attend trial.

The lawyers for the plaintiffs are expected to resist this request. They represent the plaintiffs who feel they were wronged. Watch this story of a single mom who says she made a mistake trusting “him.”

The first fraud trial being faced by Donald Trump is regarding prospective students of the so-called University, who allege they were misled by Donald Trump. The suit alleges the instructors were “hand picked” and that the students were expecting education from an accredited university reports Politico.

Trump University is a university in name only, and is not an accredited institution. This trial is a class action suit involving plaintiffs across three states in Florida, California, and New York.

The racketeering trial that will follow is reportedly a nationwide suit that alleges the so-called Trump University engaged in activities that renders the business a “racketeering enterprise” according to federal law, as reported by Politico.

[Feature Image by Jon Elswick/AP Images]

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