The New York attorney general is suing President Donald Trump’s charitable foundation along with its directors – the president, his sons Eric and Donald Jr. and daughter Ivanka – accusing them of “extensive and persistent” violations of state and federal charities law.
The lawsuit, announced by Barbara Underwood on Thursday, alleges a pattern of persistent illegal conduct, occurring over more than a decade.
It claims Trump used the foundation’s charitable assets to pay off his legal obligations, to promote Trump hotels and other businesses, to purchase personal items, and provide extensive support to his 2016 presidential campaign.
Meanwhile “directors failed to meet basic fiduciary duties”, with the foundation’s last recorded board meeting in 1999.
Underwood described the foundation as “little more than a checkbook for payments from Mr Trump or his businesses to nonprofits, regardless of their purpose or legality”.
“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,” Underwood said.
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