1. Trump says in the tweet that the $25 million he’s paying is just “a small fraction of the potential award.” Is that true?
Yes, this is a rare instance when Trump’s not lying about the Trump University fraud case. This was a high-profile fraud case that involved the following: 1) three lawsuits including fraud and racketeering claims; 2) at least 6,000 students who were each and all defrauded by Trump into paying thousands of dollars apiece (and for many, tens of thousands); 3) numerous government and private attorneys who have already spent hundreds of hours investigating the case and then opposing Trump’s often frivolous motions; and 4) an unrepentant defendant who claims he’s worth $10 billion dollars.
So $25 million is a “small fraction of the potential award” as it’s an inadequate sum that doesn’t even pay everyone back their full tuition and attorneys fees much less get to the civil penalties for each violation and then either the punitive damages or treble damages (available under the federal RICO statute) that it takes to make sure a guy claiming to be worth $10 billion doesn’t do this again. Moreover, many of the students were put through the credit card wringer AFTER the useless classes because Trump staff had persuaded them to increase their credit lines to pay Trump. To cover all this after the trial testimony, the courts and juries in these cases together could award $100 million or more.
It’s unfortunate that this country will not be hearing the weeks of trial testimony exposing Trump as a con artist and fraud. But regarding settlement, these three lawsuits should have culminated in at least a $50M deal so that the students get nearly all their money back and Trump pays additional penalties commensurate with a huge scam. Realistically, I acknowledge that it is extremely difficult and unpredictable to litigate against a U.S. President, especially a heavy-handed one like Trump, but even with the usual risks of litigation and these unique risks, the sum of $25M to cover two class actions and an New York AG case just doesn't cut it. The students, their attorneys, and the AG had Trump by the balls and they let him go cheap.
2. Trump does seem to be bragging about getting away with something here. Why would a litigant tweet this about a new settlement, especially before all the students, judges, etc. signed off on it?
He couldn’t help but slip in some gloating, and not much thought went into it. After a quick sigh of relief that they let go of his balls and that he wouldn’t be subject to the fraud trials, Trump then switched, as only Trump can, to a desire to rub into the faces of all his students the fact that this settlement is a fraction of the potential award against him. Occasionally, an obnoxious litigant will say publicly that a small settlement shows how small the matter was all along. But I’ve never seen one bragging publicly and so quickly about how big the potential award could have been. Thus, Trump’s tweet here is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen a litigant do.
3. Trump is our President-Elect. How and why would a President-Elect tweet about his own fraud settlement anyway?
“How” is a good question because I don’t know where your President-Elect finds the time for all these tweets. Regarding “why” a 70-year-old President-Elect still tweets away like this, the evidence is overwhelming that this particular President-Elect doesn’t have the maturity that most twelve-year-olds have.
Disclaimer: I have been litigating consumer protection cases in California for over twenty years. However, I have never litigated against Presidents-Elect, sitting Presidents, or twelve-year-olds so please take that lack of experience into account here.
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Update: This post just made the Rec list! I’m honored! Though it is bittersweet--I’d rather be writing about how Hillary Clinton’s pick for Attorney General is too moderate than Trump’s fraud case.