Rob McKenna: Trump can’t avoid lawsuits as president
Nov 24, 2016, 10:03 AM | Updated: 10:02 pm
Donald Trump can try to run, but he won’t be able to hide from lawsuits brought on by legitimate claims made against him before he swears in as president.
We know this to be the case, thanks to the case brought against former President Bill Clinton by Paula Jones. Jones sued Clinton for sexual harassment, which she said occurred while he was governor of Arkansas. However, the Supreme Court said presidential immunity doesn’t extend to acts committed by a private citizen.
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Former Attorney General Rob McKenna says it would even be difficult to drag a case out until after Trump’s presidency.
“Proving that there is nothing new under the sun, this is the argument that Clinton’s attorney’s used,” McKenna said. “They asked for a stay in the Paula Jones case. That was rejected. They said it would amount to a temporary immunity, and there’s no foundation in the Constitution or statute to give president, even temporary immunity from acts as a private citizen.”
Which means that Trump could find himself settling more cases, like he did with Trump University when he agreed to pay $25 million to settle a series of lawsuits brought on after complaints of cheating students out of thousands of dollars.
Trump has been party to about 4,000 lawsuits over 30 years. He is faced with 75 active lawsuits, reports say. How many of those are credible is still up for debate.
“Keep in mind, of the 75 lawsuits that Trump is involved with right now, a number are probably frivolous,” McKenna said.
McKenna says whether or not he settles any of them will depend on if they are directed at him, or a company.
An employment-based claim could result in Trump removing himself and having the company settle, McKenna says. A credible suit against him would be a different story, and might be better to settle.
What do the number of lawsuits say about Trump?
“It’s hard to say. We’ve had business people run for president before, unsuccessfully,” McKenna said. “I think we might see new case law made along the way…”
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