In 'Stunning Reversal,' President-Elect
Trump Settles Over University Scam
Thousands
of former students of the defunct real estate
program known
as Trump University won a surprise victory late Friday when President-elect
Donald Trump agreed to settle $25 million in response to their claims of fraud.
The
suit, brought by New York Attorney General (AG) Eric Schneiderman on behalf of
former seminar attendees, accused Trump of "swindling thousands of
innocent Americans out of millions of dollars through a scheme known as Trump
University."
In
a November 18 announcement, Schneiderman celebrated the
settlement, which he described as a "stunning reversal" on the part
of Trump, who fought "every step of the way."
"The
victims of Trump University have waited years for today's result and I am
pleased that their patience—and persistence—will be rewarded by this $25
million settlement," Schneiderman said, noting that "every victim
will receive restitution and that Donald Trump will pay up to $1 million in
penalties to the State of New York for violating state education laws."
Throughout
the case, which was launched in 2013, the AG said that Trump "fought us
every step of the way, filing baseless charges and fruitless appeals and
refusing to settle for even modest amounts of compensation for the victims of
his phony university. Today, that all changes."
The
real estate mogul has frequently boasted that he "never settles" such
lawsuits. Indeed, Schneiderman noted that the compromise marked a
"stunning reversal" by Trump and a "major victory for the over
6,000 victims of his fraudulent university."
And
while the President-elect does not admit to any wrongdoing in the agreement,
Patrick Coughlin, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, told the New York Daily News that
the amount of money "speaks to the merits of the claims that we had."
The Daily News reported:
Under the deal negotiated by Trump's
lawyers, Schneiderman and the law firms that brought two separate class action
lawsuits regarding Trump University in California, the President-elect agreed
to pay a total of $25 million to settle the matter. Of that, $21 million
will help reimburse those in the two California class action suit—many of whom
were also part of the case brought by Schneiderman.
New York will get an
additional $3 million to repay people who were not covered by the California
lawsuits.
The
agreement also spares Trump "the embarrassment of having to testify in a
class action lawsuit in California that was supposed to begin the Monday after
Thanksgiving," the Daily News further noted.
U.S.
District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who Trump once accused of
being impartial in the case due to his Mexican heritage, said he hoped the
settlement could be a part of the healing process "that this country very
sorely needs."
The
Trump University cases are just a few of the pending lawsuits against the
president-elect, who will come into office under a "cloud" of
litigation, which observers have described as
an "extremely unusual situation."