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Ex-Trump University Student: 'I Didn't Know He Was A Con Artist'

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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) -- The entire program was "smoke and mirrors" and without substance, says a former real estate student of Trump University.

Ft. Lauderdale bankruptcy and foreclosure attorney Sherri Simpson is suing President Donald Trump over the now-defunct for-profit education company that ran a real estate training program from 2005 to 2010.

"At Trump University we teach success. That's what it's all about. Success. It's going to happen to you," Trump once said in a promotional video.

Simpson signed on as part of a class action suit against him. Former students are expected to get 80 percent of their money back.

But now, Simpson wants to back out of that and go after him on her own. She said it's not about the money, she wants something more.

"An admission of liability, mainly," she said. "It's 'I did something wrong, I didn't handle this properly,' would even be okay. 'I am sorry' would be really, really nice."

Simpson and a partner split the cost of a $35,000 course. She said she believed Trump was a successful real estate mogul who could teach her the ropes.

"I didn't know he was a con artist. I didn't know that he was just a huckster, selling something that had no real substance behind it, until I paid him the money," said Simpson.

She's nervous going up against the president but she's stood up to him before, appearing in an anti-Trump ad during the campaign.

Simpson feels that since Trump has taken office and the case reached a settlement, the whole thing has been swept under the rug.

"People need to know what happened. They need to know how he treated us, how he took money from us," Simpson demanded.

Simpson also is well aware that if she takes the settlement, she will definitely walk away with money. But if she goes out on her own, there's always the possibility she could leave empty-handed.

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