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US
President Donald Trump has agreed to shut down his personal charity, the Trump
Foundation, which the New York state attorney general has accused of engaging
in illegal activity (AFP Photo/Jim WATSON)
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New York
(AFP) - President Donald Trump has agreed to close down his personal charity,
the Trump Foundation, the New York attorney general said Tuesday, accusing it
of engaging in a "shocking pattern of illegality" to advance his
political and business interests.
The Trump
Foundation would be dissolved and its remaining assets distributed to other
charities under her supervision, attorney general Barbara Underwood said in a
statement.
Underwood
said there had been a "shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump
Foundation –- including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential
campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more."
"This
amounted to the Trump Foundation functioning as little more than a checkbook to
serve Mr. Trump's business and political interests," she said in a
statement.
"This
is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set
of rules for everyone," Underwood added.
The New
York attorney general filed a lawsuit against the Trump Foundation in June,
accusing it of "persistently illegal conduct."
The suit
named the president, sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and daughter Ivanka
Trump, who were on the board of the foundation.
"We'll
continue to move our suit forward to ensure that the Trump Foundation and its
directors are held to account for their clear and repeated violations of state
and federal law," Underwood said.
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The New
York attorney general is seeking to bar Donald Trump and his children
Eric (L),
Ivanka and Don Jr (R) from serving on the boards of New York charities
(AFP
Photo/Timothy A. CLARY)
|
The suit
seeks $2.8 million in restitution and to bar Trump, Don Jr, Eric and Ivanka
from serving on the boards of other New York non-profits.
Portrait
in golf club
According
to the suit, Trump used foundation funds to settle lawsuits, promote his
Trump-branded hotels, and for personal spending -- including the purchase of a
portrait that was displayed at one of his golf clubs.
The civil
lawsuit is one of many legal woes facing Trump, whose election campaign is
being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller for possible collusion
with Russia.
Last week,
Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, was sentenced to three years in
prison for paying hush money to two women who claimed to have had affairs with
Trump and other crimes.
In June,
Trump branded the foundation lawsuit a "ridiculous case" drummed up
by "sleazy New York Democrats" and vowed to fight it.
"I
won't settle this case!" he tweeted.
The lawsuit
painted a picture of habitual misuse of foundation funds for years, signed off
on by Trump, who was president of the thinly staffed charity.
Alleged
abuses included providing foundation funds to a Florida political campaign;
settling a 2007 lawsuit between the City of Palm Beach and Trump's Mar-a-Lago
resort, and settling a lawsuit by a golfer who took part in a Trump-sponsored
charity event in 2012.
There was
so little oversight of the foundation, according to the suit, that its board
has not met since 1999, despite legal requirements for an annual board meeting
to review its finances.
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