Hand, Cookie Jar, Deceit: Trump Charitable Foundation Sued for Blatant Abuse

Crooks я Us: Yep, law suit impacts all four of them

(Used charitable donations for private gain)

The New York State AG, Barbara Underwood (Washington Post via MSN), has filed a major suit against President Donald J. Trump and his three eldest children alleging “persistently illegal conduct at the president’s personal charity,” saying in part:

“Trump himself repeatedly misused the nonprofit: (1) to pay off his business creditors, (2) to decorate one of his golf clubs, and (3) to stage multi-million dollar giveaways at his 2016 campaign events.”

In the suit, AG Underwood asked a state judge to dissolve the “Donald J. Trump Foundation.” 

She also asked that its remaining $1 million in assets be distributed to other charities, and that Trump be forced to pay at least $2.8 million in restitution and penalties. 

Underwood also asks that Trump be banned from leading any other New York State nonprofit for 10 years — seeking to apply a penalty usually reserved for the operators of small-time charity frauds to the president of the United States. 

Underwood also noted in suit that Trump had already paid more than $330,000 in reimbursements and penalty taxes since 2016. New York State began probing the Trump Foundation in response to an investigation by The Washington Post. 

Underwood then asked the judge to go further and require Trump to pay millions more.

She said a 20-month state investigation found that Trump had repeatedly violated laws that set the ground rules for tax-exempt foundations — most importantly, that the money was meant to serve the public good; not to provide private benefits to their founders (e.g., all the Trumps) and then Underwood added: “This resulted in multiple violations of state and federal law.”

The White House and the Trump Organization did not immediately respond to requests for comment *it did later this way.

Trump has been president of the foundation since he founded it in 1987. In late 2016, he had promised to shut down the Trump Foundation — but could not while the attorney general’s investigation continued.

The three Trump three children: Donald Jr., Ivanka Trump-Kushner, and Eric Trump were also named in the lawsuit because they have been official board members of the Donald J. Trump Foundation for years.

Under the law, Underwood said, board members are supposed to scrutinize a charity’s spending for signs that its leader — in this case, their father — was misusing the funds. But in reality, Underwood wrote, the three Trump children exercised no such oversight.

The board had not actually met since 1999, and Underwood wrote: “The Foundation’s directors failed to meet basic fiduciary duties and abdicated all responsibility for ensuring that the Foundation’s assets were used in compliance with the law.” 

Underwooed also asked the judge to ban each of the three children from serving as a director of a New York State nonprofit for a year.

It was not clear if any of the three are serving currently on the board of any such charities: For example, Eric Trump stepped down from the board of his “Eric Trump Foundation” after the 2016 election. The charity was renamed Curetivity.

Although Trump’s name is on the foundation, in recent years most of its money was not actually his. 

(Recall how Trump bragged how rich he was and didn't need any outside money to fund his campaign saying: I'm very rich.)

Look back at that statement here

Trump did not give any donations between 2008 and 2015. Tts largest benefactors in recent years have been wrestling moguls Vince and Linda McMahon (gave $5 million in 2007 and 2009). 

Trump later appointed Linda McMahon to lead the Small Business Administration (SBA). 

The McMahons declined to answer questions about the reasons for their gifts.

Finally: Trump right on cue attacked the lawsuit in a series of tweets that blamed Democratic politicians in New York State: 

“The sleazy New York Democrats, and their now disgraced (and run out of town) A.G. Eric Schneiderman, are doing everything they can to sue me on a foundation that took in $18,800,000 and gave out to charity more money than it took in, $19,200,000. I won't settle this case!” (He said one long tweet)

Then the Trump Foundation issued a statement criticizing the lawsuit as “politics at its very worst,” accusing the AG of holding its $1.7 million in remaining funds “hostage for political gain.”

My 2 Cents: As I’ve stated from day one and especially with Kushner and Ivanka appointments and Jr. and Eric traveling for business at government expense this clan is “in it for the money, marketing, and expanding the Trump Empire, Inc.” name brand as much and widely as possible for their personal wealth – and not much else. 

This case reinforces that contention. I say “nail their raggedy asses good and made them pay and just like so many millions have over these years and more recently since Trump was sworn into office. 

This is by any legal, moral, or logical standard the worse presidency in modern American history – hell, maybe all of American history. I suspect more legal action against this crew may follow this NYS suit. 

This suit as noted above has been on-going for some 20 months which means it started before Trump took office. Wow. 

Thanks for stopping by.