AG: Trump University Had D Rating From Better Business Bureau
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman had some corrections for a claim Donald Trump made at the 11th Republican National Debate on Thursday night.
At the debate, Trump said his failed Trump University had an A rating from the Better Business Bureau, 1010 WINS' Steve Kastenbaum reported. According to Schneiderman, the university had a D rating before the school changed its name.
Schneiderman has been in an ongoing legal battle with Trump over the university's questionable business practices for several years.
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"The New York State education department started going after them very quickly because you can't just put up a sign and say 'we're a university,'" Schneiderman said.
Schneiderman first launched an investigation into Trump University in 2011, aiming to weed out unlawful business practices within the for-profit institution. Schneiderman later filed a $40 million lawsuit against Trump in 2013, claiming that the real estate mogul helped run a phony university that promised to make students rich, but instead steered them into expensive and mostly useless seminars.
"People were lured in with the idea they were going to learn from Mr. Trump and in fact they were hiring instructors," Schneiderman said.
Schneiderman said many of the 5,000 students who paid up to $35,000 thought they would at least meet Trump, but instead all they got was their picture taken in front of a life-size picture of "The Apprentice" TV star.
Many of the instructors at the school were hired out of other industries not related to education, with part of the staff comprised of former retail and fast food workers, Schneiderman added.
During Thursday's debate, GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio took issue with Trump and his since-shuttered Trump University. In response, Trump dismissed Rubio as a poor politician who "wouldn't get elected dog catcher."
Earlier this year, the Appellate Division unanimously rejected Trump's request to dismiss the 2013 suit over Trump University, ruling that a six-year statute of limitations applies. The four justices also denied state Schneiderman's request for an immediate judgment, saying there are material issues of fact that should be decided at trial.
The attorney general says he plans to continue their investigation into Trump for fraud and deceptive business practices.