Donald Trump Deposition Delayed Into His Business Fraud As He Is Holed Up At Mar-a-Lago

Former President Donald Trump’s deposition was set for Friday in a lawsuit brought against him and the Trump Organization. But it has been rescheduled as he rides out hurricane Ian at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

On Wednesday, Trump’s legal team and the lawyers for the class action plaintiffs, who sued Trump, his business, and his adult children, pointed fingers at each other in court filings, reported Washington Examiner. They each blamed the other for why the deposition had been set for Friday in person at the Florida property right in the middle of a hurricane.

Plaintiff lawyer John Quinn wrote to the magistrate judge overseeing the case on Wednesday saying that for the past several days, as "we have monitored the developing situation around Hurricane Ian, we have raised with defense counsel the possibility of relocating the deposition.”

Quinn said that he sent an email last Sunday to Trump’s team expressing their desire to keep the date. But they raised concerns about "last-minute cancelations and the potential inability of the court reporter and videographer to get safely to the deposition location, and suggesting that we move the deposition to Bedminster, New Jersey.” Then the plaintiff lawyer told the judge that a lawyer for Trump called him Tuesday “to tell me that he and his colleague were boarding a flight to Palm Beach.”

He added that the last they heard was that Defendants insisting the deposition go forward at "Mar-a-Lago and on Friday but that we do not believe that is prudent or safe.” The plaintiffs' lawyer emphasized that for the avoidance of any doubt, they were "prepared to proceed with the deposition."

But Trump lawyer Clifford Robert retorted in court filings Wednesday saying that the plaintiffs’ letter was riddled with "disingenuous and misleading statements." He also said that it failed to "correctly report the events that transpired prior to Plaintiffs’ hasty request to cancel the longstanding deposition of President Trump." They would have been pleased to reschedule the deposition to another date, but "Plaintiffs insisted that it proceed.”

The lawyer said that Trump was willing to proceed with his deposition on Friday. He requested the judge order the deposition to be done by Zoom. But Quinn opposed holding the deposition by Zoom. Finally, the deposition deadline was extended to Oct. 31 by Magistrate Judge Sarah Cave, who serves in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The lawsuit was filed in 2018. It alleges that Trump and three of his adult children used his reality TV show “The Celebrity Apprentice” as well as other promotional events to earn a lot of money. They allegedly raked in money for their endorsements of a multi-level marketing scheme and other scam businesses, reported CNN.

Trump's adult children -- Ivanka, Eric and Trump Jr. -- were also on the list of people that Quinn’s team could depose.

In October 2020, it was reported that four plaintiffs were suing Trump. They stated that they lost thousands of dollars in a multi-level marketing scheme that was promoted on "The Celebrity Apprentice." Trump had starred in it from 2008 to 2015, according to Business Insider.