Trump Wins Dismissal of 2018 Suit Over Video Phone Pitches

(Bloomberg) -- With one trial down and another starting next week, former President Donald Trump quietly eked out a courtroom victory in a low-profile lawsuit that’s been grinding away for more than five years.

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A New York judge on Thursday dismissed a federal suit in which a group of former Trump fans accused him of ripping off viewers of his Celebrity Apprentice TV show for years by pitching investments in a company that sold bulky desktop videophones, which he insisted were the next big thing.

The dismissal by US District Judge Lorna Schofield is a setback for plaintiffs’ attorney Roberta Kaplan, who also represents New York writer E. Jean Carroll in a defamation suit against Trump that’s going to trial next week. And it comes just after closing arguments in New York state’s civil fraud trial against Trump, the Republican front runner in the race for the White House.

The decision in the videophone case, which had been set for trial later this month, follows earlier rulings that narrowed the case in Trump’s favor. The judge said the plaintiffs can take their claims to state courts in California, Maryland and Pennsylvania, where they live. They can also appeal the dismissal to the Second Circuit in Manhattan and seek to revive the case in federal court.

“Today’s decision addresses only where – not if – plaintiffs’ claims should be brought to trial,” Kaplan said in a statement. “We intend to continue the fight, and our brave clients look forward to their day in court.”

The case has been struggling to gain traction in court for several years. The only federal claim in the suit — a racketeering claim — was dismissed in 2019, while a crucial request by the plaintiffs seeking class-action status to represent thousands of other alleged victims was denied in October. And Trump’s children, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump, were voluntarily dropped from the suit last year by the plaintiffs to streamline the case.

“Having already declined class certification, we are pleased that the court dismissed the nominal claims of the three remaining plaintiffs,” Trump attorney Clifford Robert said in a statement.

The 2018 suit alleged that Trump’s promotions duped investors into paying thousands of dollars to become independent sellers with ACN Opportunity LLC, which sold the doomed videophone device and other products. The clunky devices were made obsolete by smartphones.

Trump was accused of falsely telling ACN investors that he believed in the product despite knowing nothing about it, and falsely claiming he wasn’t being paid to promote it. Trump attended massive ACN promotional events, and his videotaped pitches were shown at ACN events large and small across the country for years, according to the suit.

“Trust me — it’s changing everything,” Trump, who was paid almost $9 million to promote ACN products from 2005 to 2015, said in a promotional video shown at investor events across the country. “The absolute truth is that this technology will be present in every home within the next several years.”

The case is McKoy v. Trump Corp., 18-cv-9936, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

(Updates with comment from Trump’s lawyer.)

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