‘Self-Dealing — or the Use of a Charity’s Money to the Personal Benefit of One of Its Operators — Is a Major No-No in Charity World’
The investigation into the Donald J. Trump Foundation launched just two weeks ago by New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (photo) appears to be broadening. In an exclusive report, Talking Points Memo explains the inspection “appears to have broadened to include new allegations of self-dealing by Trump that surfaced after the probe began.”
TPM reveals an attorney for the Florida town of Palm Beach confirmed to them he “has provided documents to the New York Attorney General’s Office as part of the probe.”
Those documents relate to a story The Washington Post reported last week, charging that Donald Trump “used $258,000 from his charity to settle legal problems.”
Trump’s management of his foundation, to which he has not donated since 2008, according to reports, is being called into question, as many are stating it appears the GOP nominee may have been engaging in self-dealing.
“Self-dealing — or the use of a charity’s money to the personal benefit of one of its operators — is a major no-no in charity world, and a violation of both state law in New York, where the Trump Foundation is registered, and IRS regulations, according to legal and tax experts,” TPM explains.
Pamela Mann, the former chief of the Charities Bureau at the New York Attorney General’s office told TPM she thinks “it’s conceivable” the NY Attorney General’s office “could also seek to involuntary dissolve a foundation because it’s not really acting like a charitable foundation.”
Over at Slate they say Trump’s foundation is “supposed to be a charity. It looks a lot more like a personal piggy bank.”
Earlier today news broke that one of Trump’s companies appears to have violated the decades-long embargo on Castro’s Cuba by doing business in the communist country then trying to make it look like charity.
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