Trump is shutting down his family’s corrupt ‘charity’ amid investigation
The Trump Foundation is being shut down as criminal allegations continue to swirl around Trump and his family.
Trump is agreeing to shut down his family’s private foundation, and give away the rest of its money, as he faces a lawsuit alleging that he illegally used the charity for his own benefit.
The Trump Foundation has signed a stipulation with the New York Attorney General that will dissolve the organization, which prosecutors say was used for “repeated and willful” acts of corruption.
Dissolving the charity won’t get the Trump family out of hot water. In fact, it’s only the beginning of what New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood wants out of an ongoing lawsuit against the foundation.
The lawsuit also seeks more than $2.8 million in restitution, and a temporary ban on the Trumps serving on the boards of other New York nonprofits. Included in the lawsuit as defendants are not just Trump, but also his three eldest children, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump.
In a statement, Underwood described “a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation — including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more.” She said the Trump Foundation functioned as “little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump’s business and political interests.”
Underwood called the foundation’s dissolution “an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone.”
The original lawsuit accused the foundation of “multiple violations of state and federal law.” It stated that Trump used the foundation as a slush fund to pay off Trump’s personal creditors, decorate his golf clubs, and stage a giveaway for an event associated with his presidential campaign.
Reporting from the Washington Post found the Foundation spent $264,231 to put a fountain in front of a Trump hotel.
Trump may have even used his charity to pay the $7 fee to enroll his then-11-year-old son in Boy Scouts.
During the 2016 election, Trump repeatedly made unfounded attacks against the Clinton Foundation.
But unlike the Trump Foundation, the Clinton Foundation has a track record of helping the less fortunate across the globe, has received the highest rating from the charity watchdog, Charity Navigator, and is not currently the subject of a lawsuit exposing possible criminality.
The Trump Foundation is just one of many outlets for Trump’s alleged corruption and criminal behavior being scrutinized by investigators. And this particular investigation ensnares not just Trump, but also some of his family members who double as his political advisers.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
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