Justice

The President-Elect Just Used Twitter to Explain Why He Settled Another Lawsuit

November 19th 2016

President-elect Donald Trump, who famously said that he never settles lawsuits, despite having already done so over a dozen times, will pay a settlement of $25 million over three separate fraud lawsuits against Trump University, his ill-fated business school. This is on top of $1 million that will be paid to the state of New York for violating its education laws, according to the New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

The settlements are to be paid to nearly 6,000 litigants in California, Florida, and New York. After the agreement was reached, Trump took to Twitter to offer a bittersweet take on the end of the ordeal.

Despite multiple attempts to dismiss the lawsuits, the legal action against Trump University had dogged the president-elect throughout his campaign.

At one point, Trump got into hot water over the lawsuit when he said that a federal judge presiding over the case had “an inherent conflict of interest” due to his Mexican heritage, claiming he was biased due to the and the then-candidate’s pledge to build a wall on the southern border. Even conservatives lambasted the candidate for those remarks, with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan going so far as to call them the “textbook definition of a racist comment.”

After the election, many thought the legal troubles over Trump University could see the next president end up in a courtroom. That won't happen now, at least not with this case.

According to some conservative estimates, there are over 70 lawsuits pending against Trump and his businesses. In July, Hillary Clinton staffers attempted to read over 5,500 lawsuits involving the then-candidate on Facebook Live. It took them nearly four hours.

One of the most immediate spaces to watch for anti-Trump legal action is the soon-to-be president’s charitable organization, the Trump Foundation, which is currently under investigation. During the campaign, it was forced to stop fundraising after it was found to be operating without proper certification.

Trump is also in an unprecedented position as president in terms of facing potential charges of bribery and conflict of interest, given that his worldwide businesses offer a simple opportunity for a quid-pro-quo. Some foreign diplomats have already said that spending money at the president-elect’s hotel chain, putting more money in his pocket, is seen as a potentially easy way to curry favor, according to The Washington Post.

Of course, if staying at Trump hotels were to result in favors being exchanged, Congress could hold hearings and even impeach the president. With Republicans controling both houses of Congress, though, few believe this is likely.

Share your opinion

Do you think Trump will be in court as president?

No 19%Yes 81%