Donald Trump is headed to court next month. Wow the question I asked in the headline just hit me a hour after I wrote it. It will be historic if he wins the election. The Billionaire GOP presidential candidate will stand trial in a class action lawsuit filed by former students of his now defunct, Trump University. Can you imagine a president on trial for violation of federal RICO laws?
If that sounds crazy to you, keep in mind that in June USA Today published an article showing that over the years, Donald Trump has been involved in 3,500 lawsuits. In fact, the same article reports that at the time of publishing at least 70 new suits had been filed either by or against Trump since he announced his candidacy. “The Don” did his best to stop this case from advancing to trial. Trump attempted to smear the judges name, insinuating that because U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel’s parents were of Hispanic origin that he couldn’t possibly hand down a fair ruling. Once it was made clear that he could not get out of the trial, nor have the judge removed, he attempted to have the trial pushed back to 2017 to no avail. He did everything except pay the people he owed and now he will have his day in court.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall that day, I can only imagine the grandstanding he will do. Like the man or not, you can’t deny, his deflection skills are superior to most we’ve ever seen. I mean even in the case of written, audio and video proof the man will still deny, deflect, deny. You have to admit, the man has the huge cajones and ego of a silver spoon raised elitist. In his eyes, he can do no wrong, the peasants are wrong to differ in opinion with him.
In case you’re not familiar with the Trump University scandal, let me fill you in. From 2005 to 2010 Donald Trump was a priority stakeholder in Trump University. The for-profit school taught courses in real estate, asset management, entrepreneurship and wealth creation. Turns out the “university” wasn’t accredited and gave no actual college credits. The “students” weren’t graded nor did they receive any type of grades, degree or diploma once they finished. Before closing its doors it had been ordered to drop the “university” form its name.
In 2011 the New York’s States Attorney’s office started investigating the university for illegal business practices which led to a 2013 $40 million civil lawsuit. That lawsuit has not yet been settled. There are two federal class action lawsuits against Trump and Trump University alleging that the school and its employees used misleading marketing practices and aggressive sales tactics to defraud students. Trump University is accused of defrauding 5,000 “students” out of up to $35,000 by promising to teach them his real estate techniques.
Makaeff v. Trump University, LLC, was filed in 2010 as part of a class action lawsuit with plaintiffs in three other states. Trump University, in Trump’s normal retaliatory manner, filed a defamation suit against the woman who was the lead plaintiff. After an extended court battle where Makaeff came out on top, the judge ordered Trump University to reimburse Makaeff $798,000 in legal fees.
The lawsuit that is forcing Trump into court just days after the 2016 presidential election, Low v. Trump University LLC, 10-cv-00940, U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, is a serious one. Trump has been named the sole defendant and is being sued for not only restitution, but punitive and treble damages. The GOP candidate is being accused of racketeering and violating federal RICO laws behind “Live Events” sold through Trump University. The lawsuit alleges that these events were nothing more than a grand scheme to defraud students and turned out to be sales pitches for more expensive programs.
On November 8, we Americans will head to the polls and elect a new president. It’s literally mind boggling to think that should Trump win, the president of The United States will be in court, on record being sued for fraud. I guess his supporters will say it doesn’t matter because he isn’t president until sworn in come January. Man, what a backwards society we live in. I’ve lost respect for the two-party system, democracy, and so many other systems and individuals during this election process. The idea that we literally are down to two crooks as our only choices to lead us for the next four years, is preposterous.
The big question is, if Trump is found guilty in November of violating federal RICO laws will he be jailed? Will Mike Pence actually be our next president? What a circus this whole mess has turned out to be.
For full information on the court cases I outlined here click the following links http://zhlaw.com/cases/trump-university/ and http://www.trumpuniversitylitigation.com
