Donald Trump settled for $25 million a lawsuit brought by the state of New York over charges that he cheated students of his short-lived Trump University, arguing in tweets that he just wanted to focus on the presidency.
The trial had been set for jury selection Nov. 28. Trump’s legal team had been trying to get U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel to delay the case until after the inauguration in January.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement Friday that his office brought the suit against Trump in 2013 “for swindling thousands of innocent Americans out of millions of dollars through a scheme known as Trump University.”
“Donald 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,” Schneiderman said. “Today, that all changes. Today’s $25 million settlement agreement is a stunning reversal by Donald Trump and a major victory for the over 6,000 victims of his fraudulent university.”
The attorney general said that “under the terms of this settlement, 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.”
“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.”
Trump faced the lawsuit brought by Schneiderman and two class-action lawsuits in California. The settlement encompasses all of the cases. The New York attorney general had sought $40 million.
“While we have no doubt that Trump University would have prevailed at trial based on the merits of this case, resolution of these matters allows President-Elect Trump to devote his full attention to the important issues facing our great nation,” The Trump Organization responded.
Trump fired off a couple of tweets about the case:
I settled the Trump University lawsuit for a small fraction of the potential award because as President I have to focus on our country.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016
The ONLY bad thing about winning the Presidency is that I did not have the time to go through a long but winning trial on Trump U. Too bad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016
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