Accusers: Trump kids had key role in duping clients

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Detroit News


Erik Larson, Bloomberg Published 8:33 p.m. ET Jan. 31, 2019 | Updated 12:01 p.m. ET Feb. 1, 2019

Donald Trump’s three eldest children were deeply involved in their father’s alleged scheme to rip off tens of thousands of Americans with bogus marketing opportunities in the years before he was elected president, according to a revised lawsuit by four would-be entrepreneurs.

The group, which sued in October, filed an amended complaint Thursday that expanded claims that Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump systematically defrauded people who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars each to work with a marketing firm they endorsed called ACN Inc. ACN allegedly promised business opportunities with little risk and was widely promoted on Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice” television show.

The Trump children did more than just lend their names to ACN, the amended lawsuit says. The siblings appeared repeatedly with ACN co-founders on their father’s TV show, as well as in photographs, social-media posts and other materials, according to the plaintiffs, who seek to remain anonymous to avoid a backlash from Trump.

Alan Garten, the Trump Organization’s general counsel, didn’t immediately respond to a phone message and an email seeking comment. The family’s defense lawyer, Joanna Hendon, also didn’t return a call.

Read more: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/31/accusers-trump-kids-key-role-duping-clients/38986673/

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. The douche doesn't fall far from the bag.

[geardaddy]

9. LOL

[thegoose]

2. Crime family

Running the country.

[dalton99a]

4. +1. The Trump crime family

[Brother Buzz]

3. So 'Celebrity Apprentice' was an infomercial?

And all this time we thought it was a crappy 'reality' show.

[SWBTATTReg]

5. A chip off the ol' block, eh? nt

[Achilleaze]

6. republican family values suck cesspool scum

And the republican family-values role model, Comrade Dirty Donny, has perverted generations of young republican children.

* aka republican Draft-Dodger-in-Chief & Casino Hustler

[LiberalFighter]

7. Need to implicate Mark Burnett in it too.

[not fooled]

8. Criminality:

The Next Generation.

trump grown-ass adults.

[GoCubsGo]

10. I'm shocked!!! SHOCKED I tell you!!!

It's been pretty obvious from the start that these rotten, wormy apples didn't fall far from their tree.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

11. The turd doesn't fall far from the horse's ass.

[Blue Owl]

12. Junior, Gums, and Ivanka... the trio of trouble

n/t

[riversedge]

13. of course the Trumps want the suit dismissed..

The Trumps have asked U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield to dismiss the suit. At a Jan. 14 hearing, lawyers for the family claimed Trump had nothing to do with any alleged fraud. He provided celebrity endorsements to ACN from 2006 to 2015, but never owned or controlled the company, the lawyers said. And the plaintiffs haven’t identified a single fraudulent statement made by any of the other defendants, the family claims.

The revised suit attempts to address some of the judge’s questions from the hearing.

“Defendants concocted a further scheme to use the rehabilitated Trump brand, their national celebrity, and their platform, as well as their casual willingness to make false and misleading statements, to defraud consumers who were inspired by Trump’s apparent wealth and success,” the plaintiffs said in the amended lawsuit.

“In the eyes of the victims, defendants and ACN legitimized each other through their cross-branding in these appearances,” the suit says.

Ivanka Trump in particular weighed in on her understanding of the power of the Trump brand in promoting products on The Apprentice,’ the complaint says.