Donald Trump: I Settled Trump U Lawsuit Because ‘I Have to Focus on Our Country’
A day after it was reported that President-elect Donald Trump settled his fraud case involving the now-defunct Trump University, he gave his side of things on Twitter.
Despite saying in March that he never settles lawsuits, Trump will pay $25 million dollars, including fines to New York State. His team has made it very clear that this is not an admission of guilt but instead they wanted to get this out of the way as Trump concentrates on his transition to the White House.
Concerning the settlement of the case, Trump had the following to say this morning:
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
After the settlement was announced, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman released the following statement:
In 2013, my office sued Donald Trump for swindling thousands of innocent Americans out of millions of dollars through a scheme known at 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. 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.
I am pleased 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 please
The agreement takes care of the outstanding litigation surrounding Trump University, which included the lawsuit filed by Schneiderman and two class-action cases in California. The California cases were being overseen by Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was thrust into the national limelight after Trump cited his Mexican heritage as a reason he couldn’t be fair as the presiding judge.
[image via screengrab]
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