http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/01/us/politics/donald-trump-university.html?action=click&contentCollection=Opinion&module=Trending&version=Full®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article
In blunt testimony revealed on Tuesday, former managers of Trump University, the for-profit school started by Donald J. Trump, portray it as an unscrupulous business that relied on high-pressure sales tactics, employed unqualified instructors, made deceptive claims and exploited vulnerable students willing to pay tens of thousands for Mr. Trump’s insights. One sales manager for Trump University, Ronald Schnackenberg, recounted how he was reprimanded for not pushing a financially struggling couple hard enough to sign up for a $35,000 real estate class, despite his conclusion that it would endanger their economic future. He watched with disgust, he said, as a fellow Trump University salesman persuaded the couple to purchase the class anyway. “I believe that Trump University was a fraudulent scheme,” Mr. Schnackenberg wrote in his testimony, “and that it preyed upon the elderly and uneducated to separate them from their money.” For Mr. Trump, whose presidential campaign hinges on his reputation as a businessman, the newly unsealed documents offer an unflattering snapshot of his career since branching out, over the past decade, from building skyscrapers into endeavors that cashed in on his name to sell everything from water and steaks to ties and education. The release of the documents on Tuesday, under court order, was the latest turn in a federal lawsuit, filed in California by dissatisfied former Trump University students, that has bedeviled the businessman since 2010 and could trail him into the White House if he is elected president. Mr. Trump, who started the university in 2005, owned 93 percent of the now-defunct company. From the start, he acted as its chief promoter, rather than day-to-day manager, selling it as a tool of financial empowerment that would improve life for thousands of ordinary Americans. It would, he said, “teach you better than the best business school,” according to the transcript of a Web video. Within the documents made public Tuesday were internal employee guides encouraging customers with little money to pay for the tuition with their credit cards. “We teach the technique of using OPM ... Other People’s Money,” explained the internal instructions for salespeople. The documents pushed employees to exploit the emotions of potential customers. “Let them know you’ve found an answer to their problems,” read confidential instructions to salespeople. The most striking documents were written testimony from former employees of Trump University who said they had become disenchanted with the university’s tactics and culture. Corrine Sommer, an event manager, recounted how colleagues encouraged students to open up as many credit cards as possible to pay for classes that many of them could not afford. “It’s O.K., just max out your credit card,” Ms. Sommer recalled their saying. Jason Nicholas, a sales executive at Trump University, recalled a deceptive pitch used to lure students — that Mr. Trump would be “actively involved” in their education. “This was not true,” Mr. Nicholas testified, saying Mr. Trump was hardly involved at all. Trump University, Mr. Nicholas concluded, was “a facade, a total lie.” Lawyers for Mr. Trump on Tuesday challenged those characterizations, saying that the testimony of the former Trump University employees “was completely discredited” in depositions taken for the California lawsuit. Lawyers for Mr. Trump declined to release those depositions on Tuesday. As he has in the past, Mr. Trump argued through representatives that the complaints emanated from a small number of former students and that the vast majority had offered positive reviews of their experience. “Trump University looks forward to using this evidence, along with much more, to win when the case is brought before a jury,” said Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for Mr. Trump. The court records show the role that Mr. Trump — and his outsize reputation — played in trying to sell the real estate classes to thousands of students. Marketing materials bearing his signature encouraged prospective students to take advantage of a downturn in the housing market to earn quick profits. He offered the kind of assurances that financial advisers have long cautioned consumers to be wary of. “How would you like to market-proof your financial future,” Mr. Trump asked in one brochure. Mr. Trump started the for-profit Trump University just as the overheated American housing market neared its peak, promising that its classes would impart his wisdom about real estate and moneymaking to the general public. But dozens of complaints about the school rolled into the offices of attorneys general in Florida, Texas, New York and Illinois, officials said, prompting multiple investigations and, eventually, the lawsuit from former students in California. Mr. Trump had fought Tuesday’s release of previously sealed documents in the case. In an apparent attempt to discredit the judge in the case, Gonzalo P. Curiel, Mr. Trump called him biased and a “hater of Donald Trump,” and he sought to draw attention to the judge’s ethnic background — “we believe Mexican,” Mr. Trump said. (Mr. Curiel was born in Indiana; he is of Mexican descent.) On Friday, in response to a legal motion filed by The Washington Post, Judge Curiel ruled that the records be released. Some of the documents unsealed Tuesday were previously made public in connection with other lawsuits. The internal guidebooks for employees of Trump University provide a detailed set of instructions for how to sell the classes, even to skeptical and reluctant consumers, by tapping into their psychological needs. A chart outlines the stages of the “roller coaster of emotions” that a buyer will experience. (The “Blast” phase, it explains, is “giving your clients hope again.” The “Probe” phase, it says, must “slowly bring the client back down to reality.”) When it comes to selling the classes, the guidebooks leave little to chance. Inside the rooms where students are asked to enroll in classes, workers are asked to “confirm that room temperature is no more than 68 degrees.” Of course, Mr. Trump and the promise of his engagement with the school was the biggest draw of all. In the documents released Tuesday, instructors described themselves as “hand-selected” by Mr. Trump. But in a deposition related to the lawsuit, Mr. Trump acknowledged that he did not pick the instructors. Not all the documents made public on Tuesday were critical. Many former students said the classes delivered exactly what they had expected. “Trump University definitely made me more prepared to tackle the ‘real world’ of real estate investing,” wrote David Wright Jr., who signed up for a six-month program. “We really learned a lot of from Trump University and have found a modicum of success,” wrote another student, Kissy Gordon. Former employees like Ms. Sommer took a dimmer view of the school. In her testimony, she said she was startled by the qualifications of some Trump University instructors. Ms. Sommer recalled that a member of the Trump University sales team, who had previously sold jewelry, was promoted to become an instructor. He had “no real estate experience,” she said. She added that many of the instructors had the quality that the school seemed to value most: “They were skilled at high-pressure sales,” she said. On Wednesday, June 1, 2016 at 11:55:45 AM UTC-5, plainolamerican wrote: > > Salespeople were instructed to deliberately mislead potential customers > and manipulate their emotions." > > WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Tuesday unsealed nearly 400 pages of > documents related to a lawsuit over the for-profit Trump University, > revealing the aggressive and predatory practices that Trump U. salespeople > were encouraged to use on potential participants of the real estate > seminar, which has been accused of being a scam. > > The documents detail the internal “playbook” of Trump University, > including information about how its salespeople were told to deliberately > mislead potential customers, manipulate their emotions and ignore their > concerns. Taken together, they represent a damning new window into the > company that Trump closed in 2011 amid multiple investigations but has > promised to revive. > > At a Tuesday press conference at Trump Tower in New York, the presumptive > GOP nominee continued his recent streak > <http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/over-the-waterfall-into-trump-s-racist-abyss> > of bashing > <http://www.vox.com/2016/5/31/11818964/trump-judge-university-mexican> > Gonzalo > Curiel, the federal judge who unsealed the documents. Trump called Curiel a > “hater” who is “very unfair.” Asked why he continued to antagonize the > judge and bring up his Latino heritage > <http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/trump-judge-gonzalo-curiel/484790/>, > > Trump said, “Because I don’t care.” > > Curiel is the judge in Art Cohen v. Donald J. Trump, a case alleging that > Trump University committed fraud by promising people they were buying a top > real estate education, when in reality the goal of Trump University was to > sell people the most expensive version of an ineffective course. > > Since he launched his presidential bid last year, Trump has offered > conflicting accounts of his involvement with Trump University. In March, > Trump defended the company during a debate, saying that its salespeople > “did a good job” and that the program had an “A” rating from the Better > Business Bureau. (The truth is a little more complicated > <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-university-better-business-bureau_us_56df236fe4b0000de4064879>.) > > Trump has also claimed in promotional videos that he hand-picked the > instructors at Trump U. > > The playbooks instruct salespeople to mention Trump by name in order to > intimidate potential customers who are hesitant to spend thousands of > dollars on a Trump University product. “Mr. Trump will not listen to > excuses,” the playbook tells salespeople to say, “and neither will we.” > > In another scenario, salespeople are instructed to berate potential > customers, telling them, “You’ve had your entire adult life to accomplish > your financial goals... and you’re not even close to where you need to be.” > TRUMP UNIVERSITY > > But according to more than 5,000 former Trump University customers, it > wasn’t their plans that were flawed — it was the Trump U. business model > itself. Many of the former students now suing Trump say they were pressured > into spending money they didn’t have on Trump University products. > > The playbook instructed Trump University employees on how to target > potential customers with bad credit. “What most people do,” reads one > prompt, “is handle the tuition by putting it on their credit cards because > it gives them the ability to make very small monthly payments and maintain > a low overhead to run their real estate project.” Later on, it says, they > can “use their success in real estate to pay off the banks in a couple of > months or so.” > > “However, you don’t seem to have the advantage of having that kind of > leveraging power,” the pitch continues. “Do you have any other seed capital > or savings set aside to further invest into your real estate projects?” > TRUMP UNIVERSITY > > The playbook also emphasizes the need to collect key financial information > from potential customers. Salespeople were instructed to find out if > clients were single parents who “had three children that may need money for > food,” for example, or if they were a “middle-aged commuter.” > TRUMP UNIVERSITY > > A section of the books called the “Creative Financing Retreat” includes > lessons on how to use credit cards and retirement accounts to pay for “real > estate investments” — chiefly, the Trump University course. > > “If a seller will take $10,000 down on a fixer-upper that you expect to > make $20,000 on, why not use credit cards?” reads one prompt. > > “Check with a tax attorney to see how you might borrow from your own > retirement account to finance real estate investments,” reads another. > > Another section, on the “Multi-Family & Commercial Real Estate Investment > Retreat,” promises that students will learn how to “take full advantage of > tax breaks and other financial shelters, allowing you to maximize your > profits.” > > According to the documents, it seems the only kind of person Trump > University didn’t want attending its sales pitches were journalists. > > “Reporters are rarely on your side and they are not sympathetic,” reads a > section on how to deal with the media. “No matter how much confidence you > have in Trump University, you should not say anything” to a journalist. > TRUMP UNIVERSITY > > In 2012, Ronald Schnackenberg, a former sales manager at Trump University, > testified that he’d been “reprimanded for not pushing a financially > struggling couple hard enough to sign up for a $35,000 real estate class,” > even though he believed the class would do more financial harm than good > for the couple, according to The New York Times > <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/01/us/politics/donald-trump-university.html?_r=0> > . > > “I believe that Trump University was a fraudulent scheme,” Schnackenberg > wrote in his testimony, according to the Times, “and that it preyed upon > the elderly and uneducated to separate them from their money.” > > Schnackenberg’s 2012 deposition was made public > <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/06/01/us/politics/schnackenberg-testimony.html?version=meter+at+0&module=meter-Links&pgtype=article&contentId=&mediaId=&referrer=&priority=true&action=click&contentCollection=meter-links-click> > on > Tuesday. > > Trump did not immediately comment on the new documents Tuesday, and a > spokeswoman for the campaign did not respond to an inquiry from The > Huffington Post." > > > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-university-playbook_us_574dff7ee4b0af73af95b726 > -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. 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