The New York AG has filed a lawsuit against President Trump, his children, and the Trump organization. Claiming it was used for political purposes.
According to The Daily Wire:
On Thursday, the New York Attorney General’s office unveiled a lawsuit against the Trump Foundation, President Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump. Their accusation: the Trump campaign used the Trump Foundation as a goody bag for various political purposes. According to the New York Attorney General:
Our investigation found that the Trump Foundation raised in excess of $2.8 million in a manner designed to influence the 2016 presidential election at the direction and under the control of senior leadership of the Trump presidential campaign.
— New York Attorney General (@NewYorkStateAG) June 14, 2018
In violation of state and federal law, senior Trump campaign staff, including Campaign Manager Corey Lewandowski, dictated the timing, amounts, and recipients of grants by the Foundation to non-profits. pic.twitter.com/7MnLbwDqlY
— New York Attorney General (@NewYorkStateAG) June 14, 2018
The Trump Foundation also entered into at least five self-dealing transactions that were unlawful because they benefitted Mr. Trump or businesses he controls.
— New York Attorney General (@NewYorkStateAG) June 14, 2018
These include a $100K payment to settle legal claims against Mr. Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort, $158K to settle legal claims against Trump National Golf Club, and $10K to purchase a painting of Mr. Trump displayed at the Trump National Doral.
— New York Attorney General (@NewYorkStateAG) June 14, 2018
In light of this misconduct and total lack of oversight, we are also suing to dissolve the Trump Foundation under court supervision and bar @realDonaldTrump and the other members of the Trump Foundation’s Board of Directors from serving on the board of any other New York charity.
— New York Attorney General (@NewYorkStateAG) June 14, 2018
501(c)3 charitable foundations may not coordinate with political campaigns, or be used for self-dealing. The court filing alleges that “For more than a decade, the Donald J. Trump Foundation has operated in persistent violation of state and federal law governing New York State charities…the Investigation revealed that the Foundation was little more than a checkbook for payments to not-for-profits from Mr. Trump or the Trump Organization.” The AG’s office claims that “Mr. Trump ran the Foundation according to his whim, rather than the law.”
The investigation into the Trump Foundation was launched in the middle of the campaign — in June 2016. What caused the investigation to be launched? In January, Trump decided to skip a Fox News Channel presidential debate after he took offense to a line of questioning by Megyn Kelly. Instead, he counterprogrammed the debate with a charity fundraiser for the veterans. The AG’s office claims that the event wasn’t designed to raise money for charity, but to benefit Trump politically — it was a “Trump Campaign event in which the Foundation participated.” The event was planned by the campaign with administrative assistance from the Foundation. The real problem began when the “foundation ceded control over the charitable funds it raised to senior Trump Campaign staff, who dictated the manner in which the Foundation would disburse those proceeds, directing the timing, amounts and recipients of the grants.” Trump used checks for photo ops with his presidential campaign slogan on the checks, for example.
It is also alleged that Trump used the organization to pay off personal expenses. It is too early to tell, but it looks like President Trump has another lawsuit to defend. The liberals cannot handle him being president and will stop at nothing to take him down.
