posted 06-14-2018 08:38 PM                  

Jennifer Peltz, Associated Press, June 14, 2018

NEW YORK (AP) -- New York's attorney general sued President Donald Trump and his foundation Thursday, accusing him of illegally using the charity's money to settle disputes involving his business empire and to promote his political fortunes during his run for the White House.

The president blasted the case as politically motivated.
The lawsuit seeks $2.8 million in restitution, additional unspecified penalties and the dissolution of the foundation, which Trump had already pledged to dismantle.

The attorney general's two-year investigation detailed what it said was a closely coordinated effort between Trump's campaign and the foundation to burnish his political image by giving out big grants of other's people money to veterans' organizations during the run-up to the Iowa caucuses, the first presidential nominating contest of 2016.

"The foundation's grants made Mr. Trump and the campaign look charitable and increased the candidate's profile to Republican primary voters and among important constituent groups," Democratic Attorney General Barbara Underwood's lawsuit said.

It accused the foundation of "improper and extensive political activity, repeated and willful self-dealing transactions, and failure to follow basic fiduciary obligations."

Underwood referred her findings to the IRS and the Federal Election Commission for possible further action. IRS and FEC representatives declined to comment.

In a couple of tweets, Trump called the case "ridiculous."
"I won't settle this case!" he wrote.
The 31-year-old foundation said that it has given more than $19 million to charitable causes while keeping expenses minimal, and that Trump and his companies have contributed more than $8 million.
"This is politics at its very worst," the charity said in a statement, noting that the former New York attorney general who began the investigation, Democrat Eric Schneiderman, was a vocal Trump opponent.
Schneiderman resigned last month after he was accused of physically abusing women he dated; he denied the allegations. Trump's tweets also pointed to Schneiderman's resignation and his support for Trump's 2016 Democratic presidential rival, Hillary Clinton.
Schneiderman "never had the guts to bring this ridiculous case, which lingered in their office for almost 2 years," Trump wrote. "His disciples brought it when we would not settle."

Underwood is a career government lawyer who was appointed after Schneiderman's resignation. She has said she doesn't intend to run for election.

Schneiderman started investigating the charity and ordered it to stop fundraising in New York in 2016, after The Washington Post reported that the foundation's spending personally benefited the presidential candidate.

Some of those expenditures, uncovered by The Post, were cited in the lawsuit, including a $100,000 payment to settle legal claims against Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida; $158,000 to resolve a suit over a prize for a hole-in-one contest at Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor, New York; $10,000 to buy a 6-foot (1.8-meter) portrait of Trump at a charity auction; and $5,000 for advertisements published in the programs for charitable events. The ads promoted Trump's hotels.

The suit also singled out a $32,000 payment that the foundation made to satisfy a Trump company pledge to contribute to a land-preservation group.

After New York's attorney general began investigating, Trump's business empire reimbursed the foundation for the various payments and returned the painting to the foundation.

The Trump Foundation's mission says its funds are to be used "exclusively for charitable, religious, scientific, literary or educational purposes," according to the lawsuit.

In exchange for their tax-exempt status, charities are required to follow rules that include a strict prohibition against involvement in political campaigns.

But Trump's foundation cut a $25,000 check in 2013 to Republican Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi's re-election campaign, the lawsuit notes. After a watchdog group complained to the IRS in 2016, Trump reimbursed the foundation and paid a $2,500 fine.

Then Trump's foundation was "co-opted" by his presidential campaign, particularly in the run-up to the Iowa caucuses, the lawsuit says.

Spurning a Republican candidates' debate on Jan. 28, 2016 — four days before the caucuses — Trump instead participated in a televised rally and fundraiser for veterans' organizations.

The event raised approximately $5.6 million, about $2.8 million of which went to the Trump Foundation; the rest was given directly by donors to veterans groups, the lawsuit says.

Then the foundation "ceded control" over the money to campaign staff members, the suit says.

"Is there any way we can make some disbursements this week while in Iowa?" then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski wrote in an email to the chief financial officer of Trump's business, the Trump Organization.

Lewandowski did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

The foundation went on to make five grants of $100,000 before the caucuses, with Trump presenting giant checks at a series of campaign rallies to applause and praise from such figures as Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of Liberty University and son of the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, who was a force in GOP politics.

The oversized checks bore Trump's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan along with the foundation's address.

posted 06-15-2018 10:13 AM                  

Same with Benghazi, 6 or 7 Republican investigations found NOTHING wrong.

posted 06-15-2018 03:55 PM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by Tomcal:

They already did and found NOTHING illegal.

Same with Benghazi, 6 or 7 Republican investigations found NOTHING wrong.

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If they did , they investigated it same unbiased way they handle the e-mail "matter". Have you seen the IG report on the FBI? They say that she was not prosecuted because there was no criminal intent. Rubbish! Tell that to the Navy Sailor who took some pictures on a Sub with no criminal intent. The IG also confirmed that Foreign Actors hacked her server. You know the one she swore had no confidential e-mails , which also proved to be false. He also confirmed that Obama (also using an alias ) communicated with Hillary on her private e-mail long before he claimed on TV that he had just learned about it. The IG also slammed Loretta Lynch for bad judgment and for not recusing herself. What a ceespool the Obama FBI and DOJ was

posted 06-15-2018 04:27 PM                  

Alan Weisselberg seemed to know he was the Trump Organization's CFO. But he could've listed another job on his resume, and he didn't even know it.

President Trump's longtime loyalist is also listed as the Donald J. Trump Foundation's treasurer, which would've held him accountable in a new lawsuit filed by the New York attorney general Thursday accusing the nonprofit of illicit spending. But Weisselberg wasn't aware of his position until a New York state investigator told him, The Washington Post reports.

New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood alleges in the lawsuit that, based on two years of investigation sparked by a Post investigation, the foundation was benefiting the Trump family instead of the public.

But first, Weisselberg told an investigator there wasn't a policy determining how the nonprofit spent its money, per the Post. The investigator then asked if Weisselberg knew he's been on the Trump Foundation's board for over a decade. He didn't.

Of course, it's hard to remember being on a board that hasn't met since 1999.
http://theweek.com/speedreads/779101/trump-foundations-treasurer-didnt-know-treasurer-until-investigators-told

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I's rather have a free bottle in front of me instead of a pre-fontal lobotomy.

posted 06-15-2018 04:36 PM                  

House GOP chair calls for investigation into FBI’s Clinton Foundation probe

By Melanie Zanona - 05/01/18 04:19 PM EDT

Excerpt
“I have serious concerns that the Department, during the Obama Administration, attempted to obstruct justice by attempting to inappropriately terminate an FBI investigation on the Clinton Foundation,” Goodlatte wrote. “Under the facts laid out by the DOJ Inspector General (IG), it is shocking to hear that the Obama Department of Justice may have allowed politics to dictate what cases should or should not be pursued.”
The IG report, released last month, concluded that McCabe made leaks to the media that were designed to combat the perception that he had a conflict of interest in overseeing dual FBI investigations related to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

, including one related to the Clinton Foundation and another related to her use of a private email server

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/385723-house-gop-chair-ca lls-for-investigation-into-fbis-clinton-foundation-probe

posted 06-15-2018 05:16 PM                  

No facts, just jive.

Trumps been sued again for illegal activity. Lost suit with illegal Trump University to the sweet tune of 25 Million.

This ones going to be much larger.

He's been a LIAR and CON MAN his whole life.