Tristan Snell is a former assistant attorney general for New York state, where he helped lead the investigation and prosecution of Trump University. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own.

(CNN) Forget about Donald Trump for a moment.

Imagine a hypothetical man who takes donations from people who think they are giving to a charity for veterans.

The man then uses those donations to settle lawsuits against his businesses and to fund a series of publicity stunts for his own political campaign.

Tristan Snell

Now imagine that same man also starts a school. Students think they are paying tuition to learn how to start their own businesses. They are told the tuition will go to charity. But instead, the "school" has no license, the "teachers" are just salesmen preying on people's hopes and insecurities, and the "tuition" goes to line the man's pockets.

If this man were some no-name huckster, our response would be very simple: he is a con man with an unbreakable habit of fraudulent behavior, never to be trusted.