Trump asked about his racism and violence at rallies in lawsuit brought by protesters: report
Former deputy Attorney General Harry Litman revealed that President Donald Trump was probed about his racism during his deposition on Monday in the case brought by protesters attacked by Trump's bodyguard during his first presidential campaign.
According to statements from the plaintiff's attorney Ben Dictor, "The President was exactly how you would expect him to be, he answered questions the way you would expect Mr. Trump to answer questions and conducted himself in a manner that you would expect Mr. Trump to conduct himself."
Some responded to Litman's tweet, asking if that meant Trump was combative or lied.
The Daily Beast reported that there were several questions that Trump refused to answer though it wasn't revealed what those questions were.
The case comes from a 2015 press conference after Trump's presidential announcement when he said that immigrants were rapists and murderers. Those outside of the press conference alleged in the complaint that they were roughed up Trump's bodyguards, including Keith Schiller.
Protesters "Efrain Galicia and four other Mexican activists displayed a 'Make America Racist Again' banner outside the building on Sept. 3, 2015," recalled the Daily Beast. "They also wore parody Ku Klux Klan costumes after Trump was endorsed by former KKK leader David Duke."
The protesters have fought in court saying that the bodyguards were acting on behalf of Donald Trump, and as such he should be included in the lawsuit for damages. The court agreed and allowed the deposition with the now-former president to move forward.
Litman noted on Twitter that the judge allowed Dictor to ask Trump about the racism seen at his rallies and some of the racist things Trump has said publicly.
Litman then appeared on MSNBC's "Deadline White House" with Nicolle Wallace after a supercut of videos showing Trump encouraging his own supporters to hurt, fight and harm any protesters at his rallies.
It "sure sounds like the portrait of someone who's authorized his bodyguards to use violence," said Litman. "That's what the plaintiffs say. And very significantly, Keith Schiller, the actual goon who we have on video tape said that he was authorized to use violence. Very significantly, Nicole, the judge let those snippets be played today."
He went on to say that he's not sure a lot of judges would have allowed the video like that to be shown in court, saying that it was "too far," but in this case, the judge did.
"I do think it makes settlement more likely because we are now, everybody, going to see this deposition," said Litman. "It's designed to be played at trial if there's a trial. And the only way to keep it from now being made public is if he settles the case at a pretty penny, I would think because the plaintiffs now know they have some sort of leverage over him."
See the video below:
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