"The 69 days until inauguration are critical and all-consuming," Petrocelli said in the filing, arguing that the president-elect should not be required to stand trial during that time.

Petrocelli had said at a hearing in San Diego on Thursday that he would request the delay, though U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is overseeing the lawsuit, told lawyers he was not inclined to put off the six-year-old case further and encouraged the parties to settle.
...
Trump owned 92 percent of Trump University and had control over all major decisions, the students' court papers say. The president-elect denies the allegations and has argued that he relied on others to manage the business.

The pair of federal lawsuits allege that Trump University marketers misled prospective students by indicating that the instructors for the program were hand-picked by Trump and by suggesting that the education was to be delivered by an accredited university. The case set for trial later this month presents claims under strict California, Florida and New York anti-fraud laws. The follow-on suit is nationwide in nature and alleges that the misrepresentations rendered the business a racketeering enterprise under federal law.

Trump's lawyers say any exaggerations amounted to mere "puffery" and the vast majority of students were satisfied with the program, which cost about $1,500 for a weekend seminar up to $35,000 for a one-on-one mentorship in real estate investing.

JUburton wrote:hey, fuck steve bannon

The Southern Poverty Law Center, a hate-watch group, has accused Breitbart of explicitly embracing ethno-nationalism. After Bannon's elevation was announced, the law center tweeted several controversial stories written by Breitbart under Bannon's control, including a piece published two weeks after a mass killing at a black church in Charleston, S.C., last year: “Hoist it high and proud: the confederate flag proclaims a glorious heritage.”

“Stephen Bannon was the main driver behind Breitbart becoming a white ethno-nationalist propaganda mill,” the law center wrote via Twitter in its first statements on Bannon’s elevation. “Trump should rescind this hire. In his victory speech, Trump said he intended to be president for 'all Americans.' Bannon should go.”

The Anti-Defamation League voiced its strong disapproval in a statement Sunday evening, calling Bannon's appointment "a sad day." "We call on President-elect Trump to appoint and nominate Americans committed to the well-being of all our country's people," said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL's chief executive.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations also denounced the appointment and criticized Breitbart for trafficking "misogynistic and racist stories targeting women, people of color and immigrants."

"The appointment of Stephen Bannon as a top Trump administration strategist sends the disturbing message that anti-Muslim conspiracy theories and White nationalist ideology will be welcome in the White House," said Nihad Awad, CAIR’s executive director. "We urge President-elect Trump to reconsider this ill-advised appointment if he truly seeks to unite Americans."

Bannon’s personal history also has been mired in controversy. Shortly after he joined the Trump campaign, court documents revealed that his ex-wife, Mary Louise Piccard, had accused Bannon of domestic violence and anti-Semitic language in 2007. (The documents were obtained and first reported by the New York Daily News.)

“The biggest problem he had with Archer is the number of Jews that attend,” Piccard said in a statement to the court. “He said that he doesn't like the way they raise their kids to be 'whiny brats' and that he didn't want the girls going to school with Jews.” Bannon has denied the accusations.

Ben Shapiro, a former Breitbart editor who worked closely with Bannon, called him a “legitimately sinister figure” in an article he published on the Daily Wire after Bannon joined the Trump campaign.

“Many former employees of Breitbart News are afraid of Steve Bannon. He is a vindictive, nasty figure, infamous for verbally abusing supposed friends and threatening enemies,” Shapiro wrote.

Some of the Trump campaign's most controversial moves in the final months of the campaign were attributed to Bannon, who is known for his combative and unfiltered style. When Trump, before the second presidential debate, invited several women who had accused Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct to hold a news conference, Bannon stood in the back of the room smiling broadly.

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:I nearly threw my remote through my television yesterday when I turned on a Sunday morning show and heard Gingrich arrogantly dismiss a question about Bannon's racist/mysogynist history as "garbage" perpetuated by liberals and the mainstream media, then call him a good man.

It's going to be a damn long four years.

JUburton wrote:remember when peter thiel took down gawker and there was a lot of 'hah, good!' and now there's at least a possibility that papers like the new york times and washington post dont get press credentials for the white house and the president doesnt have a traveling press pool and this whack job billionaire who wants to live forever has the president's ear?

JUburton wrote:here's at least a possibility that papers like the new york times and washington post dont get press credentials for the white house and the president doesnt have a traveling press pool

Soren wrote:

JUburton wrote:here's at least a possibility that papers like the new york times and washington post dont get press credentials for the white house and the president doesnt have a traveling press pool

that can't actually happen right