Hillary Clinton is not the only presidential contender muddling through legal battles this election season. An upcoming trial scheduled for May 6 could pull Donald Trump off the campaign trail.
Listed as a witness by both sides of the bench, Trump will likely be required to testify in a trial over the now defunct Trump University which has been accused of fraud.
Yahoo News reported:
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.
Though Trump University didn’t issue degrees, the real estate seminar series didn’t live up to the advertisement’s guarantees, say plaintiffs, which include New York’s Attorney General. The Week reports:
While it didn’t grant degrees or have a campus, Trump University charged students expensive rates for what critics deemed “useless” real estate seminars. “I really felt stupid that I was scammed by Trump. I thought that he was really legit,” student Bob Guillo told The Washington Post after putting $34,995 on his American Express card — only to walk away with meaningless certificates of completion and a photo of him with a life-size picture of Trump.
Should he be required to testify in May, Trump will have to dial back campaigning at the worst of times. Nebraska, California, West Virginia, Oregon, and Washington have primaries in May and June.
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