UPDATE 12/19/18 12:44 P.M. EST: Trump has now begun his tweetstorm about the dissolution of the Trump Foundation, and it’s…
Well, did you ever see a little kid get caught red-handed by his parents and try to get out of it by bringing up something he saw his sister do? And complain SHE never gets punished? It’s kind of like that.
The Trump Foundation has done great work and given away lots of money, both mine and others, to great charities over the years – with me taking NO fees, rent, salaries etc. Now, as usual, I am getting slammed by Cuomo and the Dems in a long running civil lawsuit started by…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2018
PAUSE: He typo’d again. When he said “great work” he meant “a shocking pattern of illegality.”
…sleazebag AG Eric Schneiderman, who has since resigned over horrific women abuse, when I wanted to close the Foundation so as not to be in conflict with politics. Shady Eric was head of New Yorkers for Clinton, and refused to even look at the corrupt Clinton Foundation……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2018
PAUSE! We love the idea that Trump wanted to shut down his CHARITY “so as not to be in conflict with politics” but flat-out refused to give up any of his many business conflicts. (But it’s a lie.)
….In any event, it goes on and on & the new AG, who is now being replaced by yet another AG (who openly campaigned on a GET TRUMP agenda), does little else but rant, rave & politic against me. Will never be treated fairly by these people – a total double standard of “justice.”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2018
Why is everybody always picking on the guy who skimmed money from children’s charities??
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You’ve heard “this isn’t normal” a lot. So forgive us one more time.
The President of the United States just agreed to dissolve his charity under court order after being accused by the government of being a total scam.
THIS IS NOT NORMAL, Y’ALL.
Perezmas: 1o Trump Twitter Lies
We’ve been telling you for a year and a half about how Donald Trump used charity as a way to take money from people trying to do some good in the world and put it right in his pocket instead.
The basic scam, as we understand it, is this:
- Trump and his kids throw a big gala at one of their hotels or country clubs, inviting all their rich friends. They tell them all about a charity, like say a children’s hospital, pulling on their heartstrings and getting them to donate to the Donald J. Trump Foundation.
- BUT the Trump Organization (you know, the business) doesn’t give up the hotel or country club space for free. No, they charge the crap out of the Trump Foundation. In fact, they even OVERcharge.
- So where does the Trump FOUNDATION get all that money to pay the Trump ORGANIZATION? Oh, they pay with the money people donated. The money people thought was going to things like cancer research.
- The Trump FOUNDATION may be a nonprofit, but since it’s run by the same people as the Trump ORGANIZATION, hey look who just made a profit off of charity?
- Oh, and whatever’s left over after charging themselves goes to charity… or does it? It turns out a lot of charities are serious about keeping donations private — that makes it tough to prove how much they actually give to charity and how much they’re using for their own personal — or political — ends.
That’s where the New York state Attorney General comes in.
Back in June they sued the Trump Organization, accusing them of “a pattern of persistent illegal conduct” over many years — most recently funneling millions of money meant for charity into Trump’s presidential campaign.
Now they’ve won the first part of the lawsuit: the court has now ordered the Trump Foundation to completely dissolve under the supervision of the government.
That isn’t something that would happen on some made-up charges. They clearly have the evidence to back up their accusations.
New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood released an unequivocal statement reiterating the government’s position:
“Our petition detailed 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. This amounted to the Trump Foundation functioning as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump’s business and political interests.
Today’s stipulation accomplishes a key piece of the relief sought in our lawsuit earlier this year. Under the terms, the Trump Foundation can only dissolve under judicial supervision — and it can only distribute its remaining charitable assets to reputable organizations approved by my office.”
She continued:
“This is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone. We’ll continue to move our suit forward to ensure that the Trump Foundation and its directors are held to account for their clear and repeated violations of state and federal law.”
The next steps?
Well, first there’s the matter of paying $2.8 million in restitution (plus penalties) for the money Trump allegedly applied to his campaign.
Then, and here’s the really BIG idea we want to leave you with, the AG is seeking to ban Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and President Unindicted Co-Conspirator himself from EVER serving on the board of a nonprofit again.
You have known some awful people in your life. We all have.
Have you ever met someone who was BANNED FROM CHARITY??
[Image via WENN.]