New York Attorney General: Many Herbal Supplements Don't Contain Listed Plants

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman yesterday announced that an investigation by his office has revealed that 79% of tested herbal supplements sold in several major chains do not contain the plants listed on the labels. Via the Associated Press:

GNC, Target, Walmart and Walgreen Co. sold supplements that either couldn't be verified to contain the labeled substance or that contained ingredients not listed on the label, Schneiderman's office said. The supplements, including echinacea, ginseng, St. John's wort, garlic, ginkgo biloba and saw palmetto, were contaminated with substances including rice, beans, pine, citrus, asparagus, primrose, wheat, houseplant and wild carrot. In many cases, unlisted contaminants were the only plant material found in the product samples. Overall, 21 percent of the test results from store brand herbal supplements contained DNA from the plants listed on the labels. The retailer with the poorest showing was Walmart, where 4 percent of the products tested showed DNA from the plants listed on the labels.

Schneiderman's office conducted 390 tests on the above-listed six supplements sold under various brand names in outlets across New York. A spokesman for Walgreens says that the products are being pulled from their shelves. GNC says they stand by the quality of their products but are cooperating with Schneiderman's office. Walmart says they are reaching out to their suppliers and will take "appropriate action." A spokesman for for the supplement industry has denounced the report and accuses Schneiderman of conducting a "self-serving publicity stunt." (Tipped by JMG reader BK)

NEW YORK: Trump Files $100M Libel Suit Against State Attorney General

Last August, New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued Donald Trump, allegedly that his Trump University real estate school was a fraudulent get-rich-quick scheme that charged seminar attendees thousands of dollars for useless training.  Yesterday Trump sued Schneiderman for $100M, saying that the state has damaged his reputation. Yeah. Reputation.

In legal papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Trump says that his name, brand and reputation have been damaged by Schneiderman’s “malicious prosecution.” The attorney general “is using the publicity of a lawsuit . . . to further his political aspirations,” Trump lawyer Jeffrey Goldman charges in the legal papers, demanding “well in excess” of $100 million in damages. Schneiderman’s office filed suit last summer claiming that Trump University promised to make students rich but instead steered them into costly and mostly useless seminars. The suit claimed that Trump U.’s free seminars were often nothing more than sell jobs to get people to sign up for a $1,495, three-day seminar and eventually an “elite” program costing as much as $35,000 a person. Trump has been on the warpath against Schneiderman ever since, filing ethics complaints against him and denouncing the attorney general as a “lightweight” on Twitter.

In January a judge tossed some of the charges in Schneiderman's suit, but allowed the case to proceed.

New York Cracks Down On Fake Reviews

The office of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has fined 19 companies for posting fake reviews of themselves on sites like Yelp and Yahoo. The fines range as high as $75,000 and behind these fake reviews is quite an industry.

Investigators working for Mr. Schneiderman began by posing as the owner of a Brooklyn yogurt shop that was the victim of unfair reviews. Could the reputation management firm gin up some good reviews to drown out the naysayers? All too often the answer was yes. The investigation revealed a web of deceit in which reviewers in Bangladesh, the Philippines and Eastern Europe produced, for as little as a dollar a rave, buckets of praise for places they had never seen in countries where they had never been. In some cases, the reputation shops bribed their clients’ customers to write more fake reviews, giving them $50 gift certificates for their trouble. They also went on review sites that criticized their own fake-review operations and wrote fake reviews denying they wrote fake reviews.

Yelp appears to be the most aggressive in swatting down fake reviews.

Trump Launches Site Attacking New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman

This weekend New York state Attorney General sued Donald Trump for $40M, claiming that his Trump University is a bait-and-switch scam. In response, Trump's camp has already launched a website attacking Schneiderman. From the site: "98% of Trump University students rated the program 'excellent' while only 4% of New York State registered voters rated Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s performance as 'excellent' and Schneiderman thinks he could be the next governor? He must be joking."  The site adds that the lawsuit is an attempt to "attack the critics of President Obama."

NEW YORK: State AG Sues Donald Trump Over "Fraudulent" Trump University

New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has filed a $40M lawsuit against Donald Trump, claiming that his Trump University is a fraudulent get-rich-quick scheme.

“Trading on his celebrity status, Mr. Trump personally appeared in advertisements making false promises to convince people to spend tens of thousands of dollars they couldn’t afford for lessons they never got,” Schneiderman said. “No one, no matter how rich or famous they are, has a right to scam hardworking New Yorkers. Anyone who does should expect to be held accountable.” In reality, the free seminars were often nothing more than sell jobs to get people to sign up for a $1,495, three-day seminar that also fell far short of such promises as helping people learn how to get access to private sources of financing to insinuations that Trump would appear, the suit alleges.

Trump has responded by retweeting supportive comments from attendees of Trump University seminars.

NFL Won't Ask About Sexuality

Thanks to a deal with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.Via Capital New York:

Under an agreement reached with the NFL and the Player’s Association, the league’s collective bargaining agreement will be expanded to protect newly recruited players from being asked questions such as whether they like women or have a girlfriend. Schneiderman’s office was concerned the questions were designed to determine whether a player is gay and potentially block them from being drafted. At the same time, posters will be added to locker rooms directing players to call the Player’s Association if they suspect there is discrimination. “These interviews determine the future course of their lives… We’re just making sure the non-discrimination applies to everyone,” Schneiderman said in the interview.

Image via Memograph.

Ted Olson & NY AG Eric Schneiderman Editorialize Against Civil Unions

Former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman today published an op-ed piece in the New York Daily News explaining why civil unions are an unacceptable compromise in the marriage equality battle. Olson, as you doubtlessly know, was the co-lead attorney in the battle to overturn Prop 8. An excerpt from today's essay:

A civil union is not a marriage, nor is it an adequate substitute for one. To suggest otherwise is a cruel fiction. Even if all of the inherent confusion and complexities could be resolved and civil unions could somehow provide couples with the same rights and responsibilities of a true marriage, the separation of the two institutions creates a badge of inferiority that forever stigmatizes the relationships of committed same-sex couples as different, separate, unequal and less worthy. Time and time again, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that marriage is one of the most fundamental rights that we enjoy as Americans under the Constitution. It's a right older than the Bill of Rights and older than our political parties. It is the foundation of society. The time to grant the right of marriage to all New Yorkers is now.

Read the entire article.

Quote Of The Day - Eric Schneiderman

"I've watched the video of him assaulting Karla Giraldo enough times. I don't have any interest in watching him hit anyone else - including me. This is a guy who battered a woman. I am not going to a shooting competition with the Son of Sam, either." - NY Sen. Eric Schneiderman, turning down disgraced former Sen. Hiram Monserrate's offer to fight him in a charity boxing tournament. Schneiderman lead the successful drive to expel Monserrate from from state Senate.

New York's Heroes

The four Democrats below delivered the most impassioned and stirring pro-equality speeches of the day. If you didn't get to watch the proceedings live, please watch as each Senator approaches the issue from a different direction. Sen. Eric Adams, with gripping historical comparisons. Sen. Diane Savino, with great humor and pop culture references. Sen. Ruth Hassell-Thompson, with a heartbreaking personal story. And Sen. Eric Schneiderman, with a challenge to bring New York into the modern age. All heroes. Every one.