judge gonzalo curiel said he was open to allowing donald trump to testify remotely in light of his new duties. | getty by josh gerstein 11/11/16 05:58 am est president-elect donald trump may be allowed to testify by video link at a federal court trial set to open later this month over fraud allegations related to his trump university real estate seminar program, a judge indicated thursday. during a hearing in a san diego courtroom, u.s. district court judge gonzalo curiel said he was open to allowing trump to testify remotely in light of his new duties as he prepares to take office in january, local press reports said. story continued below plaintiffs' lawyers pressing the suit against trump objected to the video testimony and urged curiel to require him to show up in person for part of the trial, set to get underway on nov. 28. trump lawyer dan petrocelli said he plans to file a motion asking that the case be postponed for several months so that trump's transition work is not interrupted, according to the associated press. "we're in uncharted territory. we need a little bit of time," petrocelli said, according to the ap. so far, curiel has seemed intent on keeping to the trial date later this month, but it's unclear how much thought the judge and the parties gave to the possibility trump would be president-elect as opposed to an also-ran. the judge also urged the two sides to consider a settlement that could avert the need for a trial. "it would be wise for the plaintiffs, for the defendants, to look closely at trying to resolve this case given all else that<u+2019>s involved,<u+201d> curiel said, according to reuters . curiel offered the services of another san diego-based federal judge to mediate the dispute. despite the possibility of a further delay or a settlement in the six-year old case, the parties and the judge continued with preparations for the planned trial. a series of tentative rulings the judge issued just before thursday's hearing could push trump towards settling the case. curiel indicated he's inclined to reject a broad motion trump's lawyers filed recently seeking to bar mention at the trial of all statements made during the presidential campaign, whether by or about trump. trump's legal team also wanted to prohibit any discussion of "personal conduct allegations" leveled at him during the presidential race, presumably alluding to claims of sexual harassment or the recording that emerged late in the campaign in which trump spoke crudely about women. curiel said he might refuse permission to discuss specific statements that arose during the campaign, but he wasn't prepared to make an across-the-board ruling on that point. "defendants have not identified specific evidence that they wish to exclude. accordingly, the court declines to issue a blanket ruling at this time and is prepared to deny defendants<u+2019> motion without prejudice. defendants may renew their objection to specific testimony at trial," curiel wrote. however, the judge said he was not inclined to allow questioning of witnesses about their political orientation. lawyers for the former trump university students pursuing the case asked that such questioning be ruled out, apparently fearful that those planning to testify against trump would be asked about their political activities that might suggest bias against the president-elect. "because such evidence has no apparent relevance and may be unduly inflammatory, the court is prepared to grant the plaintiffs<u+2019>...request. the court directs the parties<u+2019> counsel to provide advance notice to the court outside the presence of the jury if they intend to offer evidence of witnesses<u+2019> political affiliation," curiel wrote. the lawsuit is one of a pair of federal class-action cases alleging that students who paid between about $1,500 and $35,000 for the trump university programs were deceived about what they were getting. the suits claim the seminars fraudulently advertised that instructors were hand-picked by trump and that students would learn the real estate mogul's "secrets." even calling the program a "university" was a fraud, the lawsuits contend. trump's lawyers say claims that students would be told trump's "secrets" or that he was personally involved in selecting teachers were, at worst, marketing "puffery" not intended to be taken literally. trump's side seems headed for a defeat on one of the tactical issues most important to his case: an effort to introduce a slew of positive reviews the program received in evaluations it sought from students at the time. curiel indicated thursday he doesn't see those reviews or how people enjoyed the program as relevant to the alleged misstatements. "the court first finds that the 98% rating derived from the evaluations is irrelevant to falsity and materiality. the measure of approval for the three-day workshops does not tend to prove or disprove the 'handpicked' or 'university' misrepresentations." curiel wrote. by bill scher by joshua zeitz by thomas wright by jack shafer
judge open to video testimony from trump at trump university trial - politico
josh gerstein jack shafer