Thursday, June 02, 2016

Republican Politicians Aided Trump 'University' Fraud

One fact about the scam Donald Trump ran, his so-called "university" that defrauded thousands of suckers for millions of dollars, has gotten very low-key coverage by the U.S. media. That is the fact that at least two politicians of the GOP (Gang Of Plunderers) aided and abetted his frauds, in return for donations to their political campaigns by Trump.

As a result of numerous complaints from victims,in 2010 the Better Business Bureau rated the phony "school" (in actuality a high-pressure sales "seminar," a type of hustle all too common in America) D-minus, its second-lowest grade.

Republican Greg Abbott, at the time Texas Attorney General, opened a civil investigation of "possibly deceptive trade practices." Then in 2010, Abbott killed the investigation, betraying Trump's victims in his state, and Trump "University" pulled out of Texas. Next, Trump gave $35,000 to Abbott's successful gubernatorial campaign.

Abbott's spokesman refused to talk to the Associated Press news organization about it. Abbott is currently the governor of the benighted state of Texas, succeeding an equally corrupt Republican, the moronic Rick Perry [1]

Then there's Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. She toyed with the idea of joining with New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in a multi-state suit against Trump's scam. Three days after Bondi's spokeswoman popped up in Florida media reports mentioning that Bondi's office was "reviewing" the New York lawsuit, the Donald J. Trump Foundation plopped down $25,000 on a political fundraising committee backing Bondi's re-election campaign. Bondi quickly dropped her investigation and didn't join with other state AG's pursuing civil action on behalf of Trump's numerous victims, falsely claiming there were insufficient grounds to sue the Trump operation.

Currently civil suits are going forward against Trump's racket in California and New York, including by NY State Attorney General Schneiderman. (Trump claims Schneiderman tried to shake him down for a donation- an obvious lie, since Trump would have just given him one, considering Trump's pattern of "legal" bribery, not just in this matter, but throughout his "business career." )

I haven't seen these facts reported in either the New York Times or Washington Post, just in the AP piece referenced below. In general, "the" media protects the system of "legal" bribery in the U.S. This system enables corporate interests and filthy rich individuals to exercise near-hegemonic control over politics in the U.S. Since "the" media are organs of the very same corporate oligarchy, it is logical that this same media gives scant attention to this type of corruption most of the time.

Certainly this time.

1]  "Trump University model: Sell hard, demand to see a warrant," AP,  6/2/16.

For the recent articles on Trump "University," just do an Internet search. Or go to the New York Times (click that for search results at NY Times), where you can read such articles as "Former Trump University Workers Call the School a ‘Lie’ and a ‘Scheme’ in Testimony," May 31, 2016.






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