Dive Summary:
- In a phone call broadcast Monday on NBC's Today, Donald Trump called New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who filed a $40 million lawsuit over the allegedly phony "Trump University," a "total lightweight" and claimed Schneiderman solicited donations from him during an investigation.
- Schneiderman filed the suit on the grounds that "Trump University"—later renamed the "Trump Entrepreneur Institute" because it didn't meet the legal definition of a university—fraudulently promised over 5,000 students that they could get rich with its useless and expensive real estate seminars.
- The price for seminar packages stretched as high as $35,000 for a "personal mentorship," and the lawsuit alleges that students were encouraged to increase their credit card limits to pay for elite courses; Trump claims the school has a 98% approval rating, something he says not even Harvard can boast.
From the article:
... “I was involved to a very high degree,’’ Trump said . “Obviously it’s not my main business, but applications, resumes, I met with people. I had a lot to do with it. I had a lot to do with what they discussed.
“As you know better than anybody, I was one of the good people in terms of picking the bad housing market. I told people what to do, and if they would’ve listened to me, they would’ve made a lot of money. The school was terrific. (It) had a 98 percent approval. Harvard or the Wharton School doesn’t have a 98 percent approval.”
"The teachers were not hand-picked,'' Schneiderman said. "The president of the university has already testified that Trump didn't pick them. He thinks (Trump) only met one of them, ever." ...