NEW YORK–(ENEWSPF)–December 12, 2016
A lotta lawsuits
Donald Trump’s fraudulent shadow continues to stretch across this great land and the stench of his past always follows him. Earlier this year, as Donald Trump’s racist and xenophobic campaign built up steam, one of the many lawsuits that ended up getting filed against the Donald was from famed chef José Andrés. The two men had gotten into a business venture together in the creation of a hotel in Washington, DC. Trump’s name would be on a hotel and Andrés’ name would be the hotel’s main restaurant. Like anybody in a business venture with Donald Trump, Andrés was about to get screwed. Trump’s racism was hurting Mr. Andrés’ brand.
So began the end of what seemed a promising pairing of celebrity developer and internationally renowned chef, each hoping to trade on the other’s fame. Instead the two are suing each other, filling a court file with affidavits and correspondence chronicling what has become a stubborn standoff between two powerful personalities.
Trump has taken a particular interest in the Old Post Office project, citing it on the campaign trail as a symbol of his business acumen and bragging it will be open when the nation is ready to inaugurate its next president. In the fallout over the restaurant deal, he wasted little time in personally seizing the more than $250,000 Andrés’s company had set aside as collateral at the start of the project.
President-elect Trump has to sit down for a deposition before inauguration day. After agreeing to the deposition, the length and the location, last week the strangely coiffed manchild has some demands.
The parties in the 2015 lawsuit had previously agreed that the upcoming deposition would be held the first week of January in Washington. Last week, however, Trump’s attorney’s emailed the restaurant group saying that they disagreed with the length of the deposition — up to seven hours — as well as that the questions that could overlap with a previous deposition. Trump’s team also objected to the location in Washington.
Trump’s attorneys argue the deposition needs to take place at Trump Tower in New York City, for “security reasons” in their request to the opposing lawyers. Monday, Trump’s top lawyer also cited cost and convenience for the President-elect.
The merits of the case are murky. According to the Washington Post, there is no “morality clause” in the contract with Andrés, and that will be a difficult mountain to climb. Just remember this: our president-elect has numerous lawsuits against him. This lawsuit in particular is about a business he has in Washington, DC that is a direct conflict of interest with his potential new job. And he claims he isn’t safe enough in the city where the White House is.
Source: http://dailykos.com
