(JustPatriots.com)- Donald Trump won’t have to appear in a deposition on Friday over claims that he and his three oldest children, Ivanka, Don Jr., and Eric, promoted a pyramid scheme thanks to Hurricane Ian.
The Trump family was scheduled to be questioned in the federal lawsuit after four long years, until a near Category 5 hurricane made landfall in Florida, bringing extensive flooding, power outages, and the departure of Floridians in search of safety and refuge, necessitating a postponement.
Attorneys Roberta Kaplan and John C. Quinn of the New York City firm Kaplan, Hecker, and Fink emailed District Court Judge Sarah Cave of the Southern District of New York on Wednesday, notifying the judge of their inability to appear due to the weather and possible danger.
According to a class action lawsuit filed in 2018 by the plaintiffs Catherine McKoy, Millard Williams, Markus Frazier, and Lynn Chadwich, Donald Trump used his well-known television program The Apprentice to entice unsuspecting investors to invest in the multi-level marketing firm American Communications Network, or ACN Opportunity, LLC.
The lawsuit claims that ACN was a “get-rich-quick scheme” that enhanced the reputations of Trump and his family in order to “con each of these victims into giving up hundreds or thousands of dollars” in violation of numerous state laws. The Trumps did not sign the arbitration agreement that ACN required of investors.
In addition, it is claimed in the complaint that Donald Trump “knowingly” used deceptive messaging to misrepresent the risk profile of ACN and the commercial viability of its items and failed to disclose that he was being compensated for endorsing the item.
Quinn informed the judge that his company repeatedly tried to convince Trump and his lead attorney to reschedule the deposition at the former president’s Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club after raising concerns about the impending storm, but to no avail. Friday, September 30, was the last day for discovery. Despite Hurricane Ian approaching, Trump and his team insisted the testimony occur at his Mar-a-Lago home.
If not for Hurricane Ian, Trump and his children would have been deposed for seven hours each.
