It looks like Donald Trump was using his Trump Foundation as a giant slush fund to pay off legal problems, buy gifts for himself or his businesses, and other non-charitable uses. So far, the Washington Post has found about a quarter of a million dollars of other people’s money (contributed by donors who thought they were giving to a charity) that was used illegally.
A common pattern is that in order to settle a lawsuit, Trump offers to donate money to a charity of the other side’s choosing. Trump then takes money donated to his charity to fulfill that obligation. So Trump is not out any of his money for what was supposed to be a penalty, and the donors still get a tax deduction for their charity.
For example, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club was fined $120,000 by the town of Palm Beach, FL, for violating city ordinances, but Trump settled by agreeing to donate $100,000 to a charity for veterans. Instead, the money came from the Trump Foundation.
Trump also used foundation money to buy advertisements promoting his chain of hotels.
Seth Meyers humorously presents the damning details:
A lawyer who advises large charities called the illegal expenditures of foundation money “really shocking” and said “I represent 700 nonprofits a year, and I’ve never encountered anything so brazen. If he’s using other people’s money — run through his foundation — to satisfy his personal obligations, then that’s about as blatant an example of self-dealing [as] I’ve seen in awhile.” Self-dealing is using charity money for personal enrichment, which is illegal.
Of course, we’ve already mention the money Trump had the foundation donate to a political group supporting the Florida Attorney General, who then dropped a fraud investigation against Trump University.
The list of illegal donations goes on and on.
I am finding it increasingly embarrassing that 40% of our country hasn’t figured out what a huckster and con man Trump is, and still plan to vote for him for president.
UPDATE: Of course, Trump attacked the Washington Post for their story, saying it was “peppered with inaccuracies”, but didn’t refute any of the story’s facts. He can’t, really, because all the facts came from the Trump Foundations tax returns, which (as a charity) are public. One has to wonder what illegal shenanigans we could find in Trump’s personal tax returns if he was this shoddy in his foundation returns.
But apparently, facts are completely not important to Trump supporters:
6 Comments
I find this amazing and disturbing. Wealthy and powerful businessmen are scared of the social spotlight if they get into a spat with him. That and the fact that they may lose Trump supporters as customers http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/20/business/dealbook/why-so-many-business-leaders-are-tiptoeing-around-donald-trump.html
I have more respect for Mark Cuban now.
The American public fail to realize political contributions are not tax deductible which is why Trumpy covered up his bribe to Bondi by saying he gave it to a charity in Oklahoma.
Instead of calling him The Donald, perhaps he should be called The Don. I’ve never heard of him having anyone killed, (yet), but short of that he reminds me of the Godfather with his bully boy tactics and using lawsuits and intimidation to get his way. Lying, cheating, stealing and intimidation. A new low for a presidential candidate.
Reports are that the beauty thing of it, for Trump, is that it’s all using other people’s money. The Post said Trump has not put money into the Trump Foundation since 2008. What are the chances, seriously, that he will ever be indicted.
Dishonest Hillary, indeed…
Think what a shot in the arm political satire will get if Trump is actually elected!
Oh, oops. Not really… because not enough people even care enough for it to even be an impossibility.
It’s all just show business. We Americans are not GENUINELY threatened in any way at all. Not even by terrorists.
For instance, what are the chances of an American being killed by a terrorist vs. the chances of being killed by another American with a gun? And how does this affect the impending election?
Not at all.
He would be impeached the second day in office. Then we get lying Pence who hides behind his religion.
Everything I’ve ready about Kaine, I like.