'I don’t think he was joking. He said it with venom,' Trump said of Maher. | REUTERS Trump to sue Maher after bet feud

Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Monday in California against liberal comic Bill Maher, suing him for $5 million after Trump says Maher did not follow through on a $5 million public bet he made on “The Tonight Show.”

“I don’t know whether this case will be won or lost, but I felt a major obligation to bring it on behalf of the charities,” Trump said in a public statement first obtained by POLITICO.


Last month, Maher said on NBC to Jay Leno that he would pay $5 million to Trump’s charity of choice if he provided a birth certificate proving that he’s not “spawn of his mother having sex with orangutan.” It was similar to an offer Trump made to President Barack Obama during the presidential campaign season, in which Trump wanted Obama to release his college records.

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Trump’s statement continued: “Bill Maher made an unconditional offer while offer while on The Jay Leno Show and I, without hesitation, accepted his offer and provided him with the appropriate documentation. Prior demands for payment went ignored by Mr. Maher despite the fact that the beneficiaries of this suit will ultimately be the charities […] who would share equally the $5 million — something I am certain they can desperately use.”

Trump said he wants to donate the money to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, American Cancer Society, Hurricane Sandy Victims, March of Dimes and the Police Athletic League.

He first announced his suit on Fox News earlier Monday morning.

“He promised me $5 million for charity if I provided certain information,” Trump said Monday on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends.” “Well I provided the information. He didn’t pay. So today I sue Bill Maher for $5 million for charity.”

“[Maher] made me an offer. I accepted the offer immediately, and he didn’t come through with the $5 million,” Trump said on Fox News.

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Trump’s attorney Scott S. Balber released a letter following Maher’s comments and attached a copy of Trump’s birth certificate. “Attached hereto is a copy of Mr. Trump’s birth certificate, demonstrating that he is the son of Fred Trump, not an orangutan,” Balber wrote in the letter. But wasn’t Maher just kidding? “I don’t think he was joking. He said it with venom. That was venom. That wasn’t a joke. In fact, he was nervous when he said it. It was a pathetic delivery,” Trump said on Fox News.

Following his appearance, Trump tweeted:

[email protected] billmaher didn’t come through with his promised $5 million for charity so today I will sue him.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2013

I don’t know whether I will win or lose the @ billmaher lawsuit but had an obligation to sue for charity.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2013