Boris Johnson, top contender to replace Theresa May, ordered to court for allegedly lying about Brexit

A judge has ordered Boris Johnson, who has been seen as the top contender to replace Theresa May as British Prime Minister, to appear in court and face allegations he lied about Brexit.

Johnson, former U.K. foreign secretary, has been accused of misleading the public by falsely claiming that it cost Britain £350 million per week to maintain membership in the European Union ahead of the 2016 Brexit vote, CNN reports. This claim was made while Johnson was campaigning for Britain to leave the European Union, and it appeared on a campaign bus.

Johnson has been ordered to face a private summons of three counts of alleged misconduct in office; the judge had been asked to summon Johnson as part of a private prosecution case, The New York Times reports. Johnson "repeatedly lied and misled the British public as to the cost of EU membership," the application against him alleges, Reuters reports.

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The Westminster Magistrate's Court judge said that the allegations against Johnson have not been proven but decided that "this is a proper case to issue the summons," meaning Johnson has been ordered to court for a preliminary hearing before the case can be sent to trial. Johnson's lawyers have dismissed the application as a stunt, NBC News reports, also saying that "none of the acts" that have been alleged took place "in the course of Mr. Johnson's direct parliamentary or mayoral duties" but instead during "the course of political campaigning."