President-elect Donald Trump completed a deposition Thursday over his legal battle against chef José Andrés, Trump transition team spokeswoman Hope Hicks told CNN.
Trump sued Andres for breach of contract after the chef backed out of a plan for a restaurant in Trump’s new luxury hotel in Washington. Andres claimed he canceled plans for the project after Trump made disparaging remarks about Mexican immigrants during his presidential campaign.
Alan Garten, executive vice president and general counsel for Trump Organization, said the deposition lasted “just over one hour” and described the case as “fairly straightforward.”
“In short, the parties entered into a valid and enforceable lease, which the tenant clearly breached by walking out and failing to perform its obligations, thereby entitling the landlord to recover damages in the form of unpaid rent, cost of build out, lost profits and other expenses,” Garten said in a statement.
Neither Hicks nor Garten specified where the deposition took place but the President-elect has been in Trump Tower in New York all day Thursday.
Trump’s attorneys previously agreed to his deposition in New York, but sought to limit the length and scope of questioning, arguing in court filings that “Mr. Trump is not just any apex deponent; he is the President-elect … It is not an overstatement that he is extremely busy handling matters of very significant public importance.”
But DC Superior Court Judge Jennifer A. Di Toro ruled in December that limiting Trump’s examination would be too prejudicial to the defense team’s right to prepare the case for trial, and “Mr. Trump’s own statements are at the heart” of the parties’ claims.