Another White Collar Settlement Without Any Admission Of Wrongdoing – This Time From Our Next President

Trump has apparently settled the Trump University fraud case for $25 million. According to the press release from New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, the settlement will provide restitution for the over 6,000 people defrauded and, in New York, an additional $1 million penalty for violating state education laws. However, as usual, Trump will agree to the settlement without admitting any wrongdoing. (You think the media might have wanted to spend more time exploring the potential next President’s defrauding thousands of fellow citizens instead of EMAILS!)

It has become an almost daily occurrence that white collar crime essentially goes unpunished simply by paying a fine and admitting no wrongdoing, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Just on Thursday, we saw JPMorgan Chase pay a fine for bribing Chinese officials in clear violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. And again, there was no admission of wrongdoing. Wall Street has been getting away with this kind of slap on the wrist forever and it makes me sick. Yes, I understand in the Trump case the goal of the AGs is to get restitution for the victims and pursuing a criminal charge makes that more difficult, if not impossible. But those defrauded deserve more than just restitution. They have been inconvenienced or worse for years and deserve actual compensation for that disruption. For the offender, in this case Trump, it is merely the cost of doing business. At some point, however, you just have to say enough is enough and actually charge and convict these offenders.