Trump agrees to close his charity amid allegations that he would have used it for personal and political purposes



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President Trump has agreed to close his personal charity while it was used for his personal and political gain and for the restitution of his money, the New York City Attorney General said Tuesday. , Barbara Underwood,

. The Donald J. Trump Foundation is dissolving as his office continues its lawsuit against the charity Trump and his three eldest children.

The complaint, filed in June, alleged "continuing illegal conduct" at the foundation and sought to have it closed. . Underwood continues to claim more than $ 2.8 million in compensation and has asked a judge to temporarily ban Trumps from serving on the board of directors of other non-profit organizations in New York .

Underwood said Tuesday that his investigation had revealed "a shocking scheme of illegality involving the Trump Foundation – including an illegal coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and deliberate transactions, and so much more. "

" This is a significant victory for the rule of law, making it clear that there is a set of rules for everyone, "she added in a statement. communicated.

The closure comes after the Washington Post documented apparent deficiencies in the foundation. Trump used the charity's money to pay legal regulations for his private business, to buy works of art for one of his clubs and to make a political donation not allowed.

Trump denied committing a fault. In late 2016, he said he wanted to close the foundation, but the New York Attorney General blocked the decision during his investigation.

The settlement with the Underwood office represents a Trump concession to a public inquiry that he has decried as a partisan attack. The case is one of many judicial investigations of Trump organizations that have mushroomed during his presidency.

Alan Futerfas, a Trump organization lawyer, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

York, Underwood, said the remaining $ 1.75 million of the foundation would be distributed to other charitable organizations approved by his office and by a state judge.

The prosecution's prosecution claims that Trump used the money from this charity as his own piggy bank, especially to help his president. campaign by paying for gifts at Iowa gatherings.

"The Foundation was little more than a checkbook for the payments of Mr. Trump or the Trump Organization to non-profit organizations," Underwood wrote in his original complaint.

The Trump Foundation has never been the most impressive part of its portfolio: at its peak, in 2009, it had only about $ 3.2 million in bank, a small amount for the charity of a billionaire.

The real estate mogul used other people's donations to reinforce the assets of the foundation. In recent years, the most important gifts came from Vince and Linda McMahon, wrestlers, not Trump.

Trump gave the money on his behalf and also used the foundation to pay the legal regulations of his business. Federal law prohibits the use of charity money for personal purposes

Post reports showed that for years Trump appeared to have treated the foundation – which, by law, was an independent entity – like a checkbook of gifts that reinforced his interests. 19659017] Biggest donation in the history of the foundation – a donation of $ 264,231 to the Central Park Conservancy in 1989 – seemed to benefit Trump's businesses: he had paid to restore a fountain to the outside from the hotel Trump & s Plaza. The smaller, $ 7 Boy Scout Foundation gift the same year, seemed to benefit Trump's family. This corresponded to the amount required to enroll a Boy in Boy Scouts the year his son, Donald Trump Jr. was 11 years old.

The Attorney General's investigation reveals evidence that Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump – all listed as charity officers – had never actually held a council meeting. The board of directors has not been meeting since 1999. The official treasurer of the organization, Allen Weisselberg, of the Trump organization, told investigators that he was not there. He was not aware of his presence.

State investigators asked Weisselberg what were the foundation's policies to determine.

"There is no politics, just for you to understand," said Weisselberg.

At one point, Trump used the charity's money to make a $ 25,000 political donation to Florida Attorney General Pamela Bondi (R) The charity did not talk to the IRS about it, as it had asked for – and instead indicated that donation was a donation to a charity that was completely independent of Kansas, with a similar name Trump's team blamed accounting errors.

In the 2016 campaign, state investigators allege that Trump effectively "surrendered" money from his charity to his political campaign, raising more than $ 2 million at a fundraiser in Iowa that poured into the foundation. "Then, the state said, Trump campaign director, Corey Lewand owski, determined when and where it would be given.

"Can we make payments? . . this week while he was in Iowa? ", wrote Lewandowski in an email quoted in the lawsuit of Underwood.

Trump gave oversized checks of the foundation at events held in major states of Iowa and New Hampshire to vote early, suspending campaign rallies to donate to local veterans groups

Federal law prohibits charities from participating in political campaigns As President, Trump has repeatedly called for this

The disappearance of the Trump Foundation still leaves an unresolved mystery: the fate of a large portrait of Trump that the future president bought for $ 20,000 in 2007, with the following. money charity, but we do not know what happened after that.

In 2017, after The Post wrote on the portrait, Trump listed it as an asset on the IRS forms of his organism He attributed a value of $ 700. But he did not specify where he was.

On tax forms for this year, the value of the painting was indicated at $ 0. Trump's lawyer did not answer a question from The Post about why.

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