Välgörenhet läggs ner: ”Trumps eget checkhäfte”

The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a New York-based private foundation founded and chaired by Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States. Trump originally created the foundation to his proceeds from his book Trump: The Art of the Deal to charitable causes. However Trump stopped contributing personal funds to the foundation in 2008 and instead solicited donations from outsiders.During the 2016 presidential election campaign the foundation's activities came under intense media scrutiny, initially by the Washington Post's David Fahrenthold, who went on to win the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for his investigatory work. The foundation and its directors have since been accused of committing various ethical and legal violations, including self-dealing. In December 2016, Trump effectively closed the foundation, although New York State officials immediately blocked its legal dissolution pending completion of its then ongoing investigation.On June 14, 2018, New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood filed civil suit against President Donald Trump and his three eldest children, Donald, Jr., Ivanka, and Eric, alleging "persistently illegal conduct" with respect to foundation money, accusing them of engaging in campaign finance violations, using foundation money in their self-interest ("self-dealing"), and illegally coordinating donations with Donald Trump's presidential campaign. She ordered the charity dissolved and demanded $2.8 million in restitution and penalties. She also made referrals to the Federal Election Commission and the IRS.On June 18 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's office announced that the governor would refer the civil case to New York's Department of Taxation and Finance if it is requested to do so by the AG's office. The AG's office is not legally allowed to make the referral. Given the violations alleged in the civil case, some experts believe a tax investigation could lead to state criminal charges filed against President Trump.On June 14, 2018, the new New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood filed a civil lawsuit against the foundation, Trump himself, and Trump's three adult children, Ivanka, Eric, and Donald Jr., alleging that they had engaged in "extensive unlawful political conduct" and that Donald Trump had been using the foundation "as his personal checkbook," to, among other things, settle his personal legal debts and support his presidential campaign.