Trump to testify in Trump University lawsuit after Nov. 8 vote: reports

[May 07, 2016]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump will testify after the Nov. 8 presidential election in a class-action lawsuit that accuses him and his now-defunct Trump University of defrauding people who paid up to $35,000 for real estate seminars, media reports said on Friday, citing his attorney.

Court documents showed a federal judge ordered the trial to start in San Diego on Nov. 28. This raised the possibility that Trump could take the stand as president-elect but also ensured that he will not have to testify in the case while he campaigns.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee plans to attend much of the trial and would take the witness stand, Trump lawyer Daniel Petrocelli was quoted as saying by the Associated Press and Los Angeles Times.

Petrocelli did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit claim the school lured "student-victims" into its doors, only to defraud them once their checks were cashed.

Another Trump lawyer, Alan Garten, last year called the allegations “totally lacking in any merit" and said that Trump would prevail in the end "whether it be by motion or at trial."

Trump also faces another lawsuit in Manhattan over Trump University brought by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, which Garten has said is "politically motivated." Schneiderman is a Democrat.

That fraud lawsuit, filed in 2013, seeks $40 million in restitution plus penalties and other costs.

(Reporting by Eric Walsh; Additional reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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