Colin Kaepernick’s lawyers will attempt to subpoena President Trump as part of the former quarterback’s collusion case against the NFL.
That report comes from sources to Yahoo! Sports’ Charles Robinson, who says the Mark Geragos-led legal team “is expected to seek federal subpoenas in the coming weeks to compel testimonyfrom [President Donald] Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and other officials familiar with the president’s agenda on protesting NFL players.”
The purpose of a Trump subpoena, would be to show that the president both improperly influenced owners in their decision to not sign Kaepernick. As Breitbart Sports reported weeks ago, the desire to involve Trump has been at the forefront of Geragos’ legal strategy for some time.
In an appearance on the podcast Straight Aim with Amy Dash, Kaepernick’s lead attorney Mark Geragos said that his case hinges on the president’s influence over NFL leadership.
Geragos explained, “They were clearly colluding because they were intimidated by the president. The only reason — and the owners will admit this — that they haven’t signed him is because of Trump, and they’ve colluded because of Trump.”
According to SB Nation, “To prove collusion, Geragos’ team will seek to show that Trump improperly impacted NFL owners’ decisions regarding Kaepernick, and that owners then advised one another not to sign the quarterback.”
Geragos referenced a statute that, he says, makes it illegal for Trump to influence an employment decision in the private sector.
“There’s a specific code section that says if you — for a political, partisan reason — take an action to affect somebody’s employment in the private sector that that is, not only a criminal offense, but actionable, as well.
“Under the plain language of the statute, clearly, both Trump and [Mike] Pence have violated it. Not only are they covered persons under the statute, but there is irrefutable evidence — that I won’t quote right this second — but there’s irrefutable evidence that it was done for partisan, political purposes. ‘Fire that son of a bitch’ was at a campaign rally.”
However, as Pro Football Talk reports, the process of getting Trump to a deposition has to clear a few hurdles first.
“First, the NFL’s system arbitrator must decide that the depositions are justified. Next, a federal court must decide to issue and to enforce the subpoena requests.
“Surely, the President and his team will fight the effort, every step of the way. Especially since it’s possible that any proof of interference in Kaepernick’s employment interests could possibly result in a claim that the President and/or the Vice President violated the law.”
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter @themightygwinn
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