Donald Trump could be called to testify in Trump University fraud trial
Trump University will be back in a California federal courtroom Thursday afternoon.
In the fraud lawsuit against Trump University, both sides will be presenting arguments about the evidence they’d like to put in front of a jury. President-elect Trump could be called to testify by one or both sides in the trial, which is scheduled to begin later this month, on Nov. 28.
The suit was brought by a group of students who signed up for Trump University and subsequently spent tens of thousands of dollars on additional programs.
They claim that Trump University defrauded them and other students like them, by “[t]aking advantage of these troubled economic times to prey on consumers’ financial fears for its own financial gain.” The plaintiffs compared Trump University to an “infomercial” that sells “non-accredited products, such as sales workshops, luring customers in with the same and reputation of its founder and Chairman, billionaire land mogul Donald J Trump.”
The plaintiffs accuse Trump U of promising a “year-long real estate education and mentorship,” but delivering only a three-day long infomercial that was “designed to confuse” students and persuade them to buy more seminars.
The president-elect’s lawyers have tried to have the case dismissed, but Judge Gonzalo Curiel concluded that the students had a valid question about whether Trump had “knowingly participated in a scheme to defraud.” Mr. Trump has previously questioned whether Judge Curiel would be biased in his case because of his Mexican heritage.