Trump is slated to take witness stand in fraud trial

[GMDino]

Quote: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.
 "litigation circus.
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.

Trump’s lawyers have adamantly denied the charges. “None of it is true. No one was defrauded,” said Alan Garten, the Trump Organization’s general counsel, in an interview about the allegations last year. “The people that take these classes go into it with their eyes open. A lot of people did very well [with Trump University]. A lot of people enjoyed it. But like everything else, if people don’t put the effort into it, they don’t succeed.”

https://www.yahoo.com/politics/with-gop-nomination-looming-trump-slated-to-take-191550876.html?nhp=1

[Benton]

I thought Illinois' affinity for electing criminals was a local thing. I guess as Chicago goes, so goes the nation

[*michaelsean*]

I didn't read it all but I know the plaintiffs are morons and the judge is a loser, and together they are going to end up paying Trump millions after he countersues the plaintiff and the jury finds the judge in contempt and makes him pay punitive damages to Trump.

[GMDino]

(02-25-2016, 03:01 AM)michaelsean Wrote: I didn't read it all but I know the plaintiffs are morons and the judge is a loser, and together they are going to end up paying Trump millions after he countersues the plaintiff and the jury finds the judge in contempt and makes him pay punitive damages to Trump.

[*Nately120*]

I think Trump doing sleazy stuff to make money is further proof that he's got exactly what it takes to get this country back on track. He's gonna use FRAUD to dupe Mexico into walling itself off, dupe China in giving all our jobs back, dupe ISIS into disbanding or killing themselves in non-suicide bombing ways, and dupe Congress into being anything but awful craphole it's been for years.

This just makes The Donald all that much stronger. Sorry LIE-beral MEDIA!!!!!



...better put this guy here

[GMDino]

I think he literally just says whatever someone told him will rile up the base.  He can't possibly believeive half the crap that falls out of his pie hole.  Can he?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/02/26/donald-trump-tax-returns-audit-christian-marco-rubio-ted-cruz/80976252/

Quote:Trump: Am I being audited because I'm a Christian?


HOUSTON — Donald Trump says he hasn't released tax returns because he's being audited — and claims he is being audited because of his faith.


"Well, maybe because of the fact that I'm a strong Christian, and I feel strongly about it, maybe there's a bias," Trump told CNN after Thursday's debate.

The New York businessman added that "you've had many religious groups complaining about it, they've been complaining about that for a long time."



Donald Trump in the spin room after Thursday's debate. (Photo: Pat Sullivan, AP)



Trump isn't the only Republican who claims he's targeted by the IRS; Ben Carson said it began looking at his returns after he challenged President Obama's policies during a prayer breakfast speech.


The IRS has consistently denied targeting people for political or religious reasons.


Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and other rivals criticized Trump for refusing to release his tax returns; critics like 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney have said that Trump is trying to hide something.

[JustWinBaby]

So we could have a Presidential election where both candidates could be potentially indicted?

Well, I guess we've always known our politicians are criminals....

[*Nately120*]

(02-27-2016, 02:57 AM)JustWinBaby Wrote: So we could have a Presidential election where both candidates could be potentially indicted?

Well, I guess we've always known our politicians are criminals....

ME:  Welp, two candidates are criminals and the other 2 are mentally unbalanced...I'm voting for a 3rd party.
EVERYONE:  You're a moron!



I actually dream that some day the D and R candidates are so blatantly awful that people see the wisdom in voting for at least a 3rd option, but if it doesn't  happen this time I shudder to think the candidates could get worse.

[Benton]

(02-27-2016, 02:07 PM)Nately120 Wrote: ME:  Welp, two candidates are criminals and the other 2 are mentally unbalanced...I'm voting for a 3rd party.
EVERYONE:  You're a moron!



I actually dream that some day the D and R candidates are so blatantly awful that people see the wisdom in voting for at least a 3rd option, but if it doesn't  happen this time I shudder to think the candidates could get worse.

oh nately. Welcome to America. You've already got your third party option. Right now he's leading to get the Republican party nod.

that's what an American third party looks like.

you've got one party where those in control broker favors to control who their party puts forward (Democrats with Clinton), one party that has no problem admitting it doesn't care about the constitution or other peoples rights as long as it suits them (Christian conservatives) and those who don't care about the constitution or political process as long as it suits them (tea party conservatives).

as hopeful as I was for tea party candidates to make some significant changes, so far all they've done is prove they're neglectful of not only procedure and morals, but also common sense. Trump is going to be their zenith. And idiot that has no diplomacy, no knowledge of the process or powers he could wield and an abundance of blame for why his way is everyone else's fault.

[JustWinBaby]

(02-27-2016, 04:51 PM)Benton Wrote: as hopeful as I was for tea party candidates to make some significant changes, so far all they've done is prove they're neglectful of not only procedure and morals, but also common sense. Trump is going to be their zenith. And idiot that has no diplomacy, no knowledge of the process or powers he could wield and an abundance of blame for why his way is everyone else's fault.

I also had hopes for the Tea Party when they were mainly about runaway govt spending, then the bible thumpers hijacked the party...or maybe politicians like Rubio and Cruz saw the opportunity to bring both coalitions together as a winning strategy (at least in the South for Republican races...doubt it's a winner in a general election).  I thought the Tea Party might be a springboard for Rand Paul leading the emergence of a Libertarian Party as a viable 3rd option.

I don't think I'd call Trump a Tea Party candidate - he seems to have picked off large chunks of various voting blocs.  He's not trying to build a base capturing an entire coalition, but appears to be targeting single-issue voters across different coalitions.  Like he doesn't care about people for whom guns is one of several key issues, only people for whom guns is the ONLY issue.

[Benton]

(02-27-2016, 05:56 PM)JustWinBaby Wrote: I also had hopes for the Tea Party when they were mainly about runaway govt spending, then the bible thumpers hijacked the party...or maybe politicians like Rubio and Cruz saw the opportunity to bring both coalitions together as a winning strategy (at least in the South for Republican races...doubt it's a winner in a general election).  I thought the Tea Party might be a springboard for Rand Paul leading the emergence of a Libertarian Party as a viable 3rd option.

I don't think I'd call Trump a Tea Party candidate - he seems to have picked off large chunks of various voting blocs.  He's not trying to build a base capturing an entire coalition, but appears to be targeting single-issue voters across different coalitions.  Like he doesn't care about people for whom guns is one of several key issues, only people for whom guns is the ONLY issue.

I had high hopes for Paul and a few of the others. But they switched from real conservatism and reformation and individual rights to pandering to the moral majority like Cruz and the others. So we're right back where we started — politicians who care less about individual rights and fixing spending, and more about personal issues like abortion and gay marriage. That's not conservatism, it's secular government.

And that's an interesting thing about Trump. And a very good point. I just wonder if that makes him more appealing to the people who don't share the same views, or less.

[JustWinBaby]

(02-27-2016, 11:25 PM)Benton Wrote: And that's an interesting thing about Trump. And a very good point. I just wonder if that makes him more appealing to the people who don't share the same views, or less.

As for "pandering", one could argue it's entirely valid as representing the people who elect them.  I prefer politicians who are legitimately principled, but I don't really see an issue with one who's actions are guided by the desires of the people who elect them.

With Trump, I don't think it's about appealing to people who don't share the same views....by being forceful and over-the-top on key hot-button issues, he may actually be creating MORE single issue voters and have them lining up to support him.  Get people really fired-up and really caring about what's most important to them, and then forget about what they don't agree with because it's not important [to them].

[JustWinBaby]

(02-27-2016, 11:25 PM)Benton Wrote: And that's an interesting thing about Trump. And a very good point. I just wonder if that makes him more appealing to the people who don't share the same views, or less.

Or, Trump has figured out that to capture the wingnuts everyone else is so panicked about securing, he just has to say "Make 'Murica Great Again!!!"

[Benton]

(02-27-2016, 11:39 PM)JustWinBaby Wrote: As for "pandering", one could argue it's entirely valid as representing the people who elect them.  I prefer politicians who are legitimately principled, but I don't really see an issue with one who's actions are guided by the desires of the people who elect them.

With Trump, I don't think it's about appealing to people who don't share the same views....by being forceful and over-the-top on key hot-button issues, he may actually be creating MORE single issue voters and have them lining up to support him.  Get people really fired-up and really caring about what's most important to them, and then forget about what they don't agree with because it's not important [to them].

It's a good point. It worked for Obama. For some, healthcare reform was all they cared about. No real economic policy mattered. For others it was his (dishonest) pledge to get out of the Middle East. They didn't care he didn't have any concern about tax reform one way or the other.

[JustWinBaby]

(02-28-2016, 12:02 AM)Benton Wrote: It's a good point. It worked for Obama. For some, healthcare reform was all they cared about. No real economic policy mattered. For others it was his (dishonest) pledge to get out of the Middle East. They didn't care he didn't have any concern about tax reform one way or the other.

I disagree.  I don't think Obama was any different than most politicians - he campaigned to the base.  His messaging was very much aligned with the Democratic platform. Although "Hope & Change" is just as much BS as "Make 'Murica great again!"

Trump doesn't really fit any label.  He has "policies" that are liberal, conservative, neocon, progressive.  He's all things to all idiots.  Most pundits talk about getting the base out to vote, but Trump doesn't care about that because he's building his own hodge-podge coalition.

The most remarkable thing to me is you have a Republican left of the Dems talking about protectionism, and his voters love it.  He's proving that 80% of the electorate will vote for the 'R' or 'D' no matter what they say.  He's saying enough to lead a crowded field of contender for the nomination, but his messaging clearly has elements designed to steal Democratic voters.

The more I understand what Trump is doing the more I'm really worried he's not only going to get the nomination, but he could actually win.

[Vlad]

(02-28-2016, 12:32 AM)JustWinBaby Wrote: The more I understand what Trump is doing the more I'm really worried he's not only going to get the nomination, but he could actually win.

Here's some news you'll really like in case you missed it on another thread.

A political science professor who claims his statistical model has correctly predicted the results of every election except for one in the last 104 years has forecast that the odds of Donald Trump becoming America’s next president currently range from 97 percent to 99 percent.

http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/24/political-science-professor-odds-of-president-trump-range-between-97-and-99/

[fredtoast]

For years republicans have cried every time someone trired to claim Bush lied and really ****** up the whole Iraq invasion.

Now a large potion of them are salivating over their nominee who is saying that exact same thing.