AUSTIN - For seven months, a team of investigators in the Texas Attorney General's Office extensively scrutinized a for-profit real estate investment training program known as Trump University.

The investigators went undercover to attend seminars, interviewed dozens of students and requested hundreds of documents. Ultimately, records show, they determined in May 2010 that the program had illegally engaged in false advertising, and they asked their bosses to sue unless the business agreed to pay the state $5.4 million.

And then, everything stopped. Trump University decided to leave Texas, and the bosses decided not to file the lawsuit - a choice that did not sit well with at least one of the investigators.

"The case was closed and all the Texas consumers were left high and dry," said John Owens, then the deputy chief of the office's consumer protection division, who retired in 2011 after 20 years at the office.

"We were a little shocked," Owens added.

The investigation - and the decision by then-Attorney General Greg Abbott's office not to sue - has drawn a surge of attention this week thanks to a California judge's order unsealing documents in a lawsuit against the controversial training program named after a businessman who is now the Republican Party's presumptive presidential nominee.

Critics pounced on a revelation reported by the Associated Press that Abbott received donations totaling $35,000 from Trump three years after deciding not to sue - the only major donation the New York billionaire has made to a Texas politician in years. The state Democratic Party said Abbott was "on the corrupt Trump payroll."

More Information Trump University called a 'scam' NEW YORK - Donald Trump's real estate school was "just a scam," New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said after Trump defended his former for-profit real estate school. Trump "bilked people out of millions of dollars," Schneiderman, a Democrat, said on ABC's "Good Morning America." "We're going to make sure he pays it back." The state's top legal official said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that Trump had been in settlement talks before Schneiderman sued in 2013 over Trump University. The talks failed. A Trump representative disputed Schneiderman's characterization of the talks. "What actually happened is they made a settlement demand which we rejected," said Alan Garten, counsel for the Trump Organization. "That's why we are litigating." Bloomberg News

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Abbott, who is now governor and has endorsed Trump, argued he did his job by using an investigation to force a bad business out of the state.

"The unthinkable has happened - the media's obsession with Donald Trump is now leading them to highlight the job then-Attorney General Abbott did in protecting Texas consumers," spokesman Matt Hirsch said.

The reality may be a little murkier than either side would acknowledge, according to documents obtained by the Houston Chronicle and interviews with former Attorney General's Office employees and Texas residents who attended Trump University.

The probe began in the fall of 2009, apparently in response to an advertisement that Trump University had placed in the Chronicle, according to an internal memo that Attorney General's Office lawyer Rick Berlin sent to Owens and three other supervisors.

"The free workshop advertisement advises you to 'Cash in on the Greatest Property Liquidation in History!' " the memo said. "The full one page ad …quotes Donald Trump as saying 'I can turn anyone into a successful real estate investor, including you.' The ad further professes that you can buy real estate from banks at up to 70% below market value."

'I did feel misled'

Similar ads were being placed in cities across Texas and the United States. Trump University, which got its name through a branding agreement with the businessman, opened outposts across the country, enticing potential customers with free events where staffers promised more details at three-day seminars costing $1,500 and, then, hands-on training at longer sessions costing up to $35,000.

Russell Beanland, a retired parts manager for the U.S. Air Force, said he paid $1,495 to attend a three-day seminar in San Antonio and felt that he did not get his money's worth.

"It didn't seem as easy as they said it was. I never did try anything out of it," said Beanland, who is now 84 and a pastor. "I did feel misled, yes."

About 30 similar complaints from Texans poured into the Better Business Bureau, according to a story published earlier this year by the American Media Institute, a nonprofit watchdog.

Not everybody was disappointed with the program, however.

Tom Barker, 62, a small- business owner from Horseshoe Bay, said he felt satisfied with a seminar he attended in Austin and follow-up trainings he bought in Las Vegas and Florida.

"I had already been doing real estate investing, but I felt like I learned more about it," said Barker, who said he was supporting Trump for president.

"There are a bunch of losers out there who think they can just hit the streets and start making deals," Barker added.

The Attorney General's Office did not receive any formal complaints about Trump University, records show.

Nevertheless, the office approved Berlin's request for an investigation.

Two months later, in January 2010, the Attorney General's Office notified Trump University it was under investigation for "possible violations of 17.46(a) and 17.46(b) of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices - Consumer Protection Act," records show.

Those provisions prohibit "false, misleading, or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce." The notification letter demanded 12 categories of documents.

'Extremely strong case'

Meanwhile, Berlin, Owens and others attended a seminar in Houston and interviewed about 30 Trump University students, according to a memo documenting the investigation.

The investigators determined that Trump University had held 57 "free" events and enticed approximately 450 Texans to pay $1,495 each to attend a seminar, according to the memo.

About 40 of those people bought a more expensive conference, and some 150 people purchased other goods or services.

In total, the investigators determined that Texans had paid Trump University at least $2.6 million, according to the memo.

They multiplied that number by two and added $250,000 in attorneys' fees to come up with their proposed settlement deal.

A meeting to discuss a possible settlement was scheduled for May 19, 2010, records show. Berlin, Owens and others sought approval from David Morales, then the deputy attorney general for civil litigation.

"It was outstanding," Owens said. "We detailed misstatements of fact they gave at their seminars. … It was an extremely strong case."

Owens said that the proposal made it all the way to the desk of Abbott's second-in-command, Daniel Hodge, who now serves as Abbott's chief of staff.

"I think Abbott knew about it," said Owens, adding that the decision not to sue was a "political decision."

The Chronicle was unable to verify that the memo reached either Hodge or Abbott. Hirsch, the Abbott spokesman, denied it, calling it completely "made-up."

Hirsch said Abbott acted in the state's best interest and was not affected by the later donations, which came three years later and was a small part of a $40 million fundraising haul.

"The Texas Attorney General's office investigated Trump U and its demands were met," Hirsch said. "Trump U was forced out of Texas and consumers were protected."