Presidential candidate Donald Trump hints at his comprehensive tax reform plan at a press conference in Trump Tower.
Andy Katz | Light rocket | Getty Images
A federal judge in New York scheduled a closed session Wednesday afternoon to hear a request from lawyers for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign to withdraw from a gender discrimination lawsuit filed by the former senior adviser to his White House bid submitted in 2016.
Law firm LaRocca, Hornik, Greenberg, Kittredge, Carlin & McPartland asked in a court filing last Friday to withdraw from the case filed by Arlene “AJ” Delgado, citing an “irreparable breakdown of the attorney-client relationship.” between the company and the campaign.”
The filing states that the company “respectfully requests permission to explain the details of this breakdown to the court in camera.”
Trials are conducted by judges without the presence of the public or the press.
Judge Katharine Parker said she would hold a closed-door conference “with the defendants and their attorneys” starting Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET, at the firm’s request. Parker’s message indicated that Delgado was not invited to the conference.
Delgado’s lawsuit, filed in 2019, alleges that in late 2016 she was stripped of her professional responsibilities as an adviser and director of Hispanic outreach for Trump’s campaign and prevented from taking an expected White House job because she disclosed that she The then and current Trump campaign advisor Jason Miller became pregnant.
The lawsuit also alleges that the defendants violated a 2017 agreement to privately settle their lawsuit for an undisclosed amount of money.
Delgado told Parker in a filing Monday that she objected to LaRocca and Hornik’s request to withdraw from the case. The defendants include Donald J. Trump For President, Inc., former Trump White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, former White House Counsel Steve Bannon and former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.
“The firm has represented the Trump campaign in this matter since July 2017 – nearly seven years,” wrote Delgado, who is representing herself in the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
“Nevertheless, on Friday afternoon, April 26, 2024, it abruptly filed a motion to withdraw: (a) with only six days of discovery remaining; and (b) only two days after the Campaign was directed to provide material information to Plaintiff, and with said information due this week.”
Delgado noted that on April 24, Parker granted her request that Trump’s campaign “require any complaints of gender discrimination, pregnancy discrimination and sexual harassment during the 2020 election cycle.”
Delgado said the timing of the withdrawal request “stinks to high heaven.”
“What happened between Wednesday and Friday that caused a sudden ‘irreparable collapse’ at the customer’s end and allegedly left the company with no choice but to withdraw?” Delgado wrote.
CNBC has reached out to one of LaRocca, Hornik’s lawyers, and a spokesman for Trump’s current presidential campaign for comment.
Don’t miss these exclusives from CNBC PRO
Source link
2024-05-01 20:46:55
www.cnbc.com