Trump due to appear in court at trial starting later this month

hotlinked

Before Donald Trump raises his right hand to take the oath of office in January, he's set for a less-auspicious swearing-in: taking the witness stand in his own defense in a federal court civil trial over alleged fraud in his Trump University real estate seminar program.

Trump faces a legal ordeal no president-elect has ever encountered: juggling defending himself before a jury with preparing for the vast challenges a political novice will face in assuming the presidency.

And the class-action case set for trial the Monday after Thanksgiving is just one of a plethora of lawsuits and threatened suits Trump was entangled in during the campaign-litigation that doesn't seem likely to disappear anytime soon and might even intensify with Trump headed to the White House.

In addition to several suits over Trump University, Trump has threatened lawsuits against a dozen or more women who've accused him of sexual impropriety in recent months-and several of those women have threatened to countersue if he comes after them.

There's also a New York state investigation into his charitable foundation and a reported federal investigation into some of his advisers' ties to Russia.

Beyond that, there's litigation that Trump himself launched, like the pair of suits against celebrity chefs who backed out of plans to open restaurants in his new luxury Washington hotel.

However, the most immediate challenge for Trump is a Trump University class-action lawsuit set to begin jury selection Nov. 28 in San Diego, with Trump called as a witness by both sides and certain to face sharp questioning about his venture's marketing practices.

Adding to the drama, the trial will bring Trump face to face with U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel. During the campaign, Trump triggered widespread outrage by arguing that Curiel's Latino heritage made the judge irredeemably biased against him. The GOP presidential hopeful also called the judge "Mexican" and "Spanish." He was born in Indiana.

Curiel has made only passing reference in public to Trump's attacks, noting in a written opinion that Trump had "placed the integrity of these court proceedings at issue."

Trump's lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli, has signaled that he may try to delay the trial further. However, Curiel denied a recent effort by Petrocelli to push the trial back and seems intent on getting it completed before the inauguration.

article...