Donald Trump’s lead attorney, Daniel Petrocelli, asked the court to delay the Trump University trial until after the Presidential inauguration, stating:
“The 69 days until inauguration are critical and all-consuming.”
The trial is scheduled for November 28 and President-elect Trump is expected to take the stand.
U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel advised both parties to settle the case. Curiel was a target of one of the many racist attacks from Trump. The billionaire still wants to go to trial while defending his business venture which enrolled about 10,000 students from 2005 until it was closed in 2010. Trump stated in March:
“I don’t settle cases very easily when I’m right.”
The lawsuit was filed in 2010 by former customers. Customers claim that they did not receive what was promised by Trump University, which led to them losing thousands of dollars.
Despite the fact that cases against the businessman are civil, some legal experts say if a court finds Trump guilty of fraud, that gives Congress a green light to consider impeachment. Thousands of citizens are already protesting for him not to be in office.
However, some worry about immunity. Presidential Immunity was formed in the 1982 decision in Nixon v. Fitzgerald, in which the Supreme Court stated:
“… In view of the special nature of the President’s constitutional office and functions, we think it’s appropriate to recognize absolute Presidential Immunity from damages liability for acts within the ‘outer perimeter’ of his official responsibility.”
Immunity is only covered for the sitting President of the United States. These allegations happened prior to Trump running for office, which makes him ineligible for immunity.
Trump’s lawyers recommend another solution. They suggested to have a recorded testimony in January before the inauguration. The recording can be used for the Nov. 28 trial and another upcoming case. The upcoming case is predicted to be brought to trial while he is sitting President.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKeA-BAX570
Featured Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr under a CC BY-SA 2.0 license
