Tuesday, a New York judge decided the ‘Trump University’ case will go to trial.
No trial date has been set (Fox News reports tentative trial date would be sometime this fall), but New York’s Attorney General indicated he expects Republican presidential frontrunner, Donald Trump to testify as a witness.
Allegations of fraud have plagued the now defunct ‘Trump University’ for years, but up until now, Trump’s legal team successfully avoided trial.
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 reported:
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.
If Trump walks away from Cincinnati with the Republican presidential nomination, the GOP might be watching their presidential candidate answering to fraud charges from the witness stand just in time for the general election. “Disastrous” doesn’t even scratch the surface.
Fox News reported:
New York County Supreme Court Judge Cynthia Kern made the decision at a hearing Tuesday, though it remains unclear whether the case will be weighed at a jury trial – which is what Trump’s team is seeking. Trump attorney Jeffrey Goldman said it’s possible the trial could be held this fall, and Trump could testify.In the case, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a Democrat, has accused Trump and others of misleading thousands of students over the school.Schneiderman alleges that Trump University was unlicensed since it began operating in 2005 and promised lessons with real estate experts hand-picked by Trump, only one of whom had ever met him. The attorney general said the school used “bait-and-switch” tactics, inducing students to enroll in increasingly expensive seminars.Trump has denied any wrongdoing. He has said it was “a terrific school” with 98 percent approval ratings by its students.Schneiderman had sued Trump and the school, which changed its name to the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative before it closed in 2010, for $40 million. The lawsuit seeks restitution and damages for more than 5,000 students nationwide, including 600 New Yorkers, who paid up to $35,000 each.
Ahead of the Indiana’s primary, Our Principles PAC is running ads on both radio and TV this week, hoping to draw attention to Trump’s involvement in ‘Trump University.’
Follow Kemberlee on Twitter @kemberleekaye
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