U of U law professor says Trump could be impeached
U of U law professor says Trump could be impeached
Posted 7:24 pm, September 20, 2016, by Max Roth
SALT LAKE CITY - A new legal analysis from a professor at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law says Donald Trump may have already committed impeachable offenses, even though the presidential election is almost two months away.
Christopher Peterson is an expert in consumer protection law, having written and co-written books on the subject, and helped set up the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau in the wake of the Great Recession.
Peterson said the high crimes and misdemeanors likely happened as Trump helped set up and promote Trump University, a real-estate seminar program in which attendees were invited to “free” events that allegedly existed only to hard-sell expensive seminars of questionable value.
“In the United States, it is illegal for businesses to use false statements to convince consumers to purchase their services,” explains Peterson. “The evidence indicates that Trump University used a systemic pattern of fraudulent representations to trick thousands of families into investing in a program that can be argued was a sham.”
Posted 7:24 pm, September 20, 2016, by Max Roth
SALT LAKE CITY - A new legal analysis from a professor at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law says Donald Trump may have already committed impeachable offenses, even though the presidential election is almost two months away.
Christopher Peterson is an expert in consumer protection law, having written and co-written books on the subject, and helped set up the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau in the wake of the Great Recession.
Peterson said the high crimes and misdemeanors likely happened as Trump helped set up and promote Trump University, a real-estate seminar program in which attendees were invited to “free” events that allegedly existed only to hard-sell expensive seminars of questionable value.
“In the United States, it is illegal for businesses to use false statements to convince consumers to purchase their services,” explains Peterson. “The evidence indicates that Trump University used a systemic pattern of fraudulent representations to trick thousands of families into investing in a program that can be argued was a sham.”
In an analysis titled “Trump University and Presidential Impeachment,” Peterson explores Trump’s actions as the leader of Trump University, a for-profit business founded in 2005 where students spent upwards of $30,000 to learn real estate development skills. Trump University advertised curriculum and instructors chosen by Trump, promising students a high-caliber and selective experience. In fact, according to Peterson, Trump University was an unaccredited and unlicensed series of get-rich-quick seminars provided by traveling salesmen. The school closed in 2010 and lawsuits—including one filed by the state of New York alleging Trump tricked students out of $40 million—are ongoing. (Two class action cases in California are also pending). Peterson asserts that Trump’s pending consumer protection lawsuits for fraud and racketeering will cast a shadow over his presidency if Trump wins the election and possibly be legally permissible grounds for impeachment should he be elected to the White House.