New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood was moved up to fill in the job after her former boss stepped down due to woman/hands problems….
She has wasted no time in joining the line of lawyers going after Donald Trump for his flauting the rules on how he does business as President….
If she wins?
It WILL cost Trump and his family…..
New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood filed suit against President Trump and his three eldest children alleging “persistently illegal conduct” at the president’s personal charity, saying Trump “repeatedly misused the nonprofit — to pay off his businesses’ creditors, to decorate one of his golf clubs and to stage a multimillion dollar giveaway at his 2016 campaign events,” the Washington Post reports.
“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 their money is meant to serve the public good, and not to provide private benefits to their founders.”
New York Times: “The lawsuit, which seeks to dissolve the foundation and bar President Trump and three of his children from serving on the boards of nonprofits, was an extraordinary rebuke of a sitting president. The attorney general also sent referral letters to the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Election Commission for possible further action, adding to Mr. Trump’s extensive legal problems.”
The New York Daily News…..
“As our investigation reveals, the Trump Foundation was little more than a checkbook for payments from Mr. Trump or his businesses to nonprofits, regardless of their purpose or legality,” Underwood said. “This is not how private foundations should function and my office intends to hold the Foundation and its directors accountable for its misuse of charitable assets.”
The lawsuit, which stems from a probe that began in June 2016, just months before the election, alleges the Donald J. Trump Foundation raised $2.8 million that was used at the direction of top Trump campaign officials to help influence the 2016 presidential election.
“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,” the lawsuit says….
…
The lawsuit seeks $2.8 million in restitution and other court imposed penalties.
It also seeks to bar Trump from having any involvement with charities in New York for 10 years while also prohibiting his kids from such involvement for one year.
And while Trump has said the foundation will be dissolved, Underwood’s lawsuit seeks to have it done with oversight from the courts.
Note…
Question?
Does Mueller, or the US Atty for New York also geta piece of this?
This was certainly well timed by the New York AG to detract from the Justice Department IG Report, but I don’t really care of course. That’s politics.
Well timed?
The IG report is just a slap at Comey…
NO ONE expected the IG to REALLY go hard at Comey who is well liked by the FBI people…
I see the WH and GOPer’s are pissed at the IG for NOT going hard at Comey…
The NYS AG is doing the right thing…
Going after Trump piece by piece and going after the money…
james is only focusing on one aspect of the IG report, just like the Trump Tribalists only focus on another aspect.
Both sides think it validates them. Trump and Hillary both think the same thing.
The IG report does also show that Obama Justice Department officials were inappropriately interested in trying to help Hillary Clinton and hurt Donald Trump and that Comey was out of line for his press conference determination that no prosecutor would bring a case against her.
So, there’s basically something for everyone, and it’s all really ancient history now anyway though.
CG?
Sessions himself is already pushing back against Trump and House Republicans efforts to use the report to go after THE FBI in order to help Trump against Mueller..
I understand the politics of defending Trump
Trump response to NY AG throw down….
The President predictably did not react well to the legal action, attacking Underwood’s predecessor Eric Schneiderman — who resigned amid allegations that he physically abused four women.
“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 tweeted….
NY Daily News….
(For those NOT aware of Trump’s antics?….This is a normal response and has little to do with the final outcome of the case…)
Needless to say there was a time (which James can describe better than I) when Donald J. Trump (and no doubt his foundation) was only too ready and happy to deal with those “sleazy N.Y. Democrats”.
As Gomer Pyle might put it, “My mama always used to say ‘Sleazy is where you find it.’ ”
Post in the works on polical foundations we have known….
“The New York attorney general sued President Trump and his foundation on Thursday. But his bigger problem might be with the Internal Revenue Service,” the New York Times reports.
“For example, the I.R.S. could seek to revoke the foundation’s tax-exempt status. The agency could even do so retroactively, which would stick the foundation with a corporate tax bill going back years… That is the sort of information that investigators would weigh in determining whether he should be charged with filing a false tax return.”
Politicalwire….
( I find this piece comical…Does ANYBODY think the IRS is gonna try to go after Trump after what he has done to the FBI and Justice Dept.????)