This is a major move by Donald Trump in the courtroom.
He caught everyone off guard and left D.C. stunned.
And if his attack succeeds it could change everything.
Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against one of the most famous pollsters in America that could change the polling industry in a big way and have a huge effect on politics.
Ann Selzer has been a leading pollster for a very long time and has leveraged the importance of Iowa as an early primary state and swing state.
People have trusted her polling data to get an idea of how Iowa will vote during its caucuses and in the general election.
But Donald Trump is attempting to change that after a scandal emerged regarding one of her recent polls.
Apparently, information had been leaked before it was publicly released to certain Democrats.
And the results of the poll seemed to favor Democrats far more than one would expect in a state like Iowa.
Now Donald Trump is filing a lawsuit.
According to NBC News, “Donald Trump is suing Ann Selzer, her polling firm, The Des Moines Register and the newspaper’s parent company, Gannett, accusing them of consumer fraud, according to a copy of the filing reviewed by NBC News.”
“Trump won the state by double digits, a difference that his lawyers argue in the suit constitutes ‘election-interfering fiction.’ Trump is making the claim under the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act, which prohibits deceptive advertising.”
“Shortly before the poll’s release, a possible leak predicted its findings, prompting an internal probe.”
“But roughly 45 minutes prior to the poll’s public release, a stray tweet predicted the poll’s findings. Its author said that Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a Duke University alumnus, had mentioned the not-yet-released poll during a Duke Democrats meeting that day. (A spokesperson for Pritzker did not respond to an inquiry about the apparent leak.)”
Pritzker having prior knowledge about what the polling data showed indicates someone involved with the project was talking.
It may have been Selzer herself or someone on her staff, but it was clearly inappropriate behavior.
Ultimately, the fact it was leaked is what led Trump to filing a lawsuit and why this lawsuit could gain traction.