New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman had tough words for Donald Trump Monday after Trump personally attacked Schneiderman for launching a $40 million lawsuit against the famous businessman and the for-profit known as "Trump University" that he backed.
Schneiderman detailed the grounds for his lawsuit on Monday's PoliticsNation, including accusations that Trump defrauded thousands of students who enrolled with “Trump University.”
"We came across Trump University and realized that it was a scam from top to bottom, starting with the fact that it wasn't a University--never registered with the NY State Department of [Education]," he said. "Then as we dug into it further we discovered that all of the promotional materials were false."
Schneiderman says Trump was the "chief pitchman" behind the school, but not involved with the instructor selection or other details he claimed to manage, according to the marketing materials used by the school.
"One of the most despicable things about this, is that their teachers were directed to tell students that 'If you want to make it in real estate, you gotta to have more credit, so call all your credit card companies, and get bigger lines of credit,' and then they got them to use that extra credit to buy these, what they called 'elite programs,' that were 10-, 25-, or even 35-thousand dollars," he explained. "All the money went to Trump U, these people came away with nothing useful."
Trump has denied the allegations, and his attorney Michael D. Cohen told the Associated Press the lawsuit was full of falsehoods.
"The attorney general has been angry because he felt that Mr. Trump and his various companies should have done much more for him in terms of fundraising," Cohen said, according to the AP. "This entire investigation is politically motivated and it is a tremendous waste of taxpayers' money."
"Donald Trump will not sit back and be extorted by anyone, including the attorney general," he added.
Trump slammed Schneiderman earlier on Monday, calling him a "political hack" on Morning Joe, and even suggesting that President Obama might be behind the lawsuit, via twitter on Sunday.
Wow, l just found out that A.G. Schneiderman met with President Obama in Syracuse on Thursday --- and sued me on Saturday! Same as IRS etc.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2013
The lawsuit seeks full restitution for the more than 5,000 consumers nationwide who were, according to Schneiderman's accusations, defrauded of over $40 million by Trump's scheme., disgorgement of profits, as well as costs and penalties and a ban on these types of practices going forward.