It seems Donald Trump’s blatant disregard for any human life that’s not his own is once again on full display, as Hurricane Ian barrels down on the state of Florida, leaving a path of destruction and tragic chaos in its wake, yet the former guy still reportedly attempted to force lawyers and officials to show up at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, to conduct their under-oath deposition of the former guy in a little known but serious phone fraud class action lawsuit Donald’s embroiled in.
Bloomberg News is out with new reporting today on the matter:
Former President Donald Trump’s deposition in an investors’ class-action fraud lawsuit over his promotion of a failed desktop video phone was delayed by Hurricane Ian that’s ravaging large parts of Florida. The investors’ lawyer sought a postponement saying the Category 4 hurricane that slammed the west coast of Florida Wednesday made questioning Trump under oath unsafe at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Trump opposed the delay.”
According to reporting from The Palm Beach Post, Palm Beach County, where the former president’s Mar-a-Lago country club and resort is located, has been suffering from widespread power outages as a result of Hurricane Ian and remains under a tropical storm warning.
Roberta Kaplan, attorney for the investors in the case, wrote to a New York federal judge on Wednesday to request a delay, due to the severe weather.
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“We do not believe that is prudent or safe, and we have been unable to obtain defendants’ agreement to reschedule (or relocate) the deposition,” Kaplan, who originally had plans to fly into FL Thursday morning, wrote to the judge. “The last we heard is that Defendants insist the deposition go forward at Mar-a-Lago and on Friday.”
Trump’s team responded by claiming that Kaplan’s filing was “riddled with disingenuous and misleading statements” and attacked her “hasty request” to reschedule the deposition.
Ultimately, Donald Trump wasn’t successful in forcing the opposing side to quite literally risk their lives and safety to come to depose him at his Florida compound, after US Magistrate Judge Sarah Cave settled the matter and ordered both sides to reach a new agreement regarding a date to hold the deposition in the class action lawsuit case. Judge Cave gave them a deadline of October 31st to reach an agreement on a new date.
Cave wrote in her ruling that Hurricane Ian was “battering the Florida peninsula with catastrophic storm surge, winds, and flooding,” citing the National Hurricane Center in her decision.
“Under these conditions, whether the deposition could occur on Friday, even remotely, is uncertain,” she wrote.
The phone fraud class action lawsuit embroils Donald Trump, his family company, the Trump Organization, and his three eldest children, Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. Four investors sued the aforementioned group in 2018, who claimed to have been duped into paying thousands of dollars to become independent sellers with ACN Opportunity LLC. The LLC sold a doomed videophone device that was marketed and touted by the Trump family as the next big thing since sliced bread, only to almost immediately be rendered obsolete and useless thanks to the influx of smartphones on the market.
Trump, of course, fought the deposition tooth and nail, but ultimately gave in when he failed to have the lawsuit dismissed.
“The case is one of the lesser known yet significant legal disputes facing the former president as he weighs a possible 2024 run for the White House,” Bloomberg reported.
Featured image via Flickr/Gage Skidmore, under Creative Commons license 2.0
