There is no evidence to support Trump’s claim.
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama arranged for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to receive a $15,000 donation in exchange for investigating Trump University, Donald Trump alleged in February in comments that were overlooked, likely due to the even more ridiculous and offensive remarks that he was making at the time.
Trump didn’t quite accuse Obama of handing Schneiderman an envelope with $15,000 stuffed in it. Instead, Trump said, Obama appears to have arranged a campaign contribution to Schneiderman from a law firm representing victims of Trump’s scam. (Like Trump’s usual claims, there’s no evidence to support this one.)
“The attorney general of New York meets with Barack Obama in Syracuse,” Trump said at a rally in Bentonville, Arkansas. “The following day he sues me. What they don’t say is, I believe, fifteen thousand or a lot of money was paid to the attorney general by the law firm in California that is suing me.”
While relaying his theory about Schneiderman and Obama, Trump told the crowd the judge in the case had “tremendous hostility, beyond belief ― I believe he happens to be Spanish, which is fine, he’s Hispanic, which is fine,” adding that he was considering asking the judge to recuse himself. (The media largely missed his comments, but Trump helpfully went to war with Judge Gonzalo Curiel again in June, and it made national news.)
Trump repeated his charge against Obama just moments later. “All of a sudden the attorney general ― his name is Eric Schneiderman, not respected in New York, doing a terrible job, probably is not electable in New York, but who knows ― and he meets with Obama, gets a campaign contribution, I think, I think it’s fifteen thousand dollars, and all of a sudden, he meets with Obama in, I believe, Syracuse, and the following day or two he brings a lawsuit against me.”
Trump’s math here gets a little fuzzy. Trump and Trump University are facing three lawsuits, not just one. The first suit was filed in California in 2010, by a woman named Tara Makaeff, who along with other plaintiffs, accused Trump University of fraud, breach of contract and false advertising. That case is moving forward.
The second class action lawsuit in California was filed in 2013 by businessman Art Cohen. In this case, the complaint alleges that the “Live Events” sold by Trump University were never intended to teach attendees how to invest in real estate, they were merely meant to convince people to pay for more seminars. This case is scheduled to go to trial in late November, with jury selection starting a few weeks earlier.
The third case is the only one filed in New York, brought by Schneiderman in August 2013. It alleges that Trump University, Donald Trump, and former Trump University president Michael Sexton all engaged in “persistent fraudulent, illegal and deceptive conduct” in their running of the seminar company.
As for Trump’s claim that Schneiderman met with Obama and then “got a campaign contribution,” it’s pure fantasy.
In 2010, three years before Schneiderman sued Trump in 2013, and five years before Trump announced he was running for president in 2015, Schneiderman was running for state attorney general in New York. In October 2010, Schneiderman’s campaign received two separate contributions from lawyers at a California law firm, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd. One donation, for $5,000 came from partner Michael Dowd. Another contribution, for $10,000, came from Patrick Daniels, also a partner.
Six months earlier, in April, Robbins Geller Rudman and another California law firm had jointly filed a class action suit in California on behalf of customers who’d been defrauded by Trump University. At the time the firm filed this suit for their clients Trump wasn’t a candidate for president, Schneiderman wasn’t attorney general and Gonzalo Curiel wasn’t the judge in the case yet. In fact, Curiel wouldn’t be appointed to the federal bench until 2012, two years after Trump’s case got underway in California.
How Trump leapt from these facts all the way to a secret payoff meeting between Schneiderman and Obama is vintage Trump. It’s as if he took all the things that happened over a six-year period, compressed them into one day and poured them into an extremely implausible John Grisham novel.
On the other hand, Trump’s charge is a useful window into how he perceives the judiciary. In 2013, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi was deciding whether to bring a case against Trump University. Bondi asked for a contribution: Trump’s charitable arm gave Bondi $25,000, and Bondi dropped the case. She now faces calls for a federal investigation into whether she took an illegal bribe.
Trump: Obama Bribed New York’s Attorney General To Sue Trump University
Does Trump believe his ridiculous fantasies - or does he just expect others to believe them?
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama arranged for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to receive a $15,000 donation in exchange for investigating Trump University, Donald Trump alleged in February in comments that were overlooked, likely due to the even more ridiculous and offensive remarks that he was making at the time.
Trump didn’t quite accuse Obama of handing Schneiderman an envelope with $15,000 stuffed in it. Instead, Trump said, Obama appears to have arranged a campaign contribution to Schneiderman from a law firm representing victims of Trump’s scam. (Like Trump’s usual claims, there’s no evidence to support this one.)
“The attorney general of New York meets with Barack Obama in Syracuse,” Trump said at a rally in Bentonville, Arkansas. “The following day he sues me. What they don’t say is, I believe, fifteen thousand or a lot of money was paid to the attorney general by the law firm in California that is suing me.”
While relaying his theory about Schneiderman and Obama, Trump told the crowd the judge in the case had “tremendous hostility, beyond belief ― I believe he happens to be Spanish, which is fine, he’s Hispanic, which is fine,” adding that he was considering asking the judge to recuse himself. (The media largely missed his comments, but Trump helpfully went to war with Judge Gonzalo Curiel again in June, and it made national news.)
Trump repeated his charge against Obama just moments later. “All of a sudden the attorney general ― his name is Eric Schneiderman, not respected in New York, doing a terrible job, probably is not electable in New York, but who knows ― and he meets with Obama, gets a campaign contribution, I think, I think it’s fifteen thousand dollars, and all of a sudden, he meets with Obama in, I believe, Syracuse, and the following day or two he brings a lawsuit against me.”
Trump’s math here gets a little fuzzy. Trump and Trump University are facing three lawsuits, not just one. The first suit was filed in California in 2010, by a woman named Tara Makaeff, who along with other plaintiffs, accused Trump University of fraud, breach of contract and false advertising. That case is moving forward.
The second class action lawsuit in California was filed in 2013 by businessman Art Cohen. In this case, the complaint alleges that the “Live Events” sold by Trump University were never intended to teach attendees how to invest in real estate, they were merely meant to convince people to pay for more seminars. This case is scheduled to go to trial in late November, with jury selection starting a few weeks earlier.
The third case is the only one filed in New York, brought by Schneiderman in August 2013. It alleges that Trump University, Donald Trump, and former Trump University president Michael Sexton all engaged in “persistent fraudulent, illegal and deceptive conduct” in their running of the seminar company.
As for Trump’s claim that Schneiderman met with Obama and then “got a campaign contribution,” it’s pure fantasy.
In 2010, three years before Schneiderman sued Trump in 2013, and five years before Trump announced he was running for president in 2015, Schneiderman was running for state attorney general in New York. In October 2010, Schneiderman’s campaign received two separate contributions from lawyers at a California law firm, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd. One donation, for $5,000 came from partner Michael Dowd. Another contribution, for $10,000, came from Patrick Daniels, also a partner.
Six months earlier, in April, Robbins Geller Rudman and another California law firm had jointly filed a class action suit in California on behalf of customers who’d been defrauded by Trump University. At the time the firm filed this suit for their clients Trump wasn’t a candidate for president, Schneiderman wasn’t attorney general and Gonzalo Curiel wasn’t the judge in the case yet. In fact, Curiel wouldn’t be appointed to the federal bench until 2012, two years after Trump’s case got underway in California.
How Trump leapt from these facts all the way to a secret payoff meeting between Schneiderman and Obama is vintage Trump. It’s as if he took all the things that happened over a six-year period, compressed them into one day and poured them into an extremely implausible John Grisham novel.
On the other hand, Trump’s charge is a useful window into how he perceives the judiciary. In 2013, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi was deciding whether to bring a case against Trump University. Bondi asked for a contribution: Trump’s charitable arm gave Bondi $25,000, and Bondi dropped the case. She now faces calls for a federal investigation into whether she took an illegal bribe.
Trump: Obama Bribed New York’s Attorney General To Sue Trump University
Does Trump believe his ridiculous fantasies - or does he just expect others to believe them?
