Donald Trump answers questions during a news conference in New York on May 31, 2016. | AP Photo Texas AG office moves to silence Trump critic

The Texas Attorney General’s Office sent a cease-and-desist letter to a former employee Friday after he accused the agency of giving Donald Trump special treatment during an investigation of Trump University.

The Attorney General’s Office, which was then led by now-Gov. Greg Abbott, gave special treatment to Trump when it was investigating Trump U in 2009, former Deputy Chief John Owens told multiple media outlets late this week.


The allegation comes at a moment when scrutiny of Trump’s defunct real estate seminars has reached a fever pitch across the country and Trump has repeatedly lambasted Trump University’s critics, including a judge in a class-action case filed against Trump U.

Owens appears to have violated state law by “apparently divulging privileged and confidential information obtained from your employment with this agency,” reads the letter, written by First Assistant Attorney General Jeff Mateer.

The Texas Attorney General’s Office reached out to Trump in 2009, after gathering evidence that the real estate seminars were bilking Texas residents out of thousands of dollars, according to an internal document posted online Friday. The attorney general’s office asked Trump for millions of dollars in restitution, including refunds to 267 Texans who purchased three-day seminars from Trump University, $1.3 million for 39 Texans who purchased larger packages of coursework, plus $2.6 million in penalties.

Soon after the letter was sent, Trump University ceased holding courses in Texas, and a lawsuit against Trump U was never filed.

“Had he been just some other scam artist, we would have sued him,” Owens told The Dallas Morning News. Owens could not be reached by POLITICO for comment Friday.

Abbott’s office has maintained that the investigation was handled appropriately and that Abbott had no knowledge of settlement.

In a statement on Friday, Mateer said that “current and former assistant attorneys general have a duty to follow all rules related to the practice of law in the state of Texas.”

“While everyone has First Amendment rights to free speech, the law strictly prohibits attorneys from releasing confidential and privileged information,” Mateer said.

Texas isn’t the only state to have looked into Trump University’s business model. In New York, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has an active lawsuit against Trump, and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office was also aware of complaints against Trump U, though the office never opened an official investigation.