SUING POLITICIANS FOR FRAUD
If a political candidate asks you for a donation with a promise that he or she will do some specific act if elected and then fails to do so, should you be able to sue for fraud?
That’s just what a Republican donor in Virginia has done, filing on August 3 a lawsuit in US District Court accusing the Republican Party of racketeering in raising millions of dollars based on the fraudulent promise of repealing Obamacare.
If a contractor offers to build a new deck on your home within a specific time period and then fails to do, so you can sue for nonperformance. Excuses that his competitors were not co-operating, or that all of his workers did not show up, or he wanted to take a vacation, would probably not persuade the judge.
It is well understood that many salespeople and political candidates engage in puffery about what their product does or what they are going to do. But when does puffery go so far as to become fraud? Let’s see how.











