In a 37-page court filing, New York Attorney General Letitia James claimed that Trump used funds from his charity, the Trump Foundation, to foot part of the bill for his campaign.
According to the Associated Press, Attorney General James petitioned a judge to force Trump to pay back a total of $2.8 million in restitution for using charitable donations received to the foundation for political and business purposes. In addition to requesting the restitution, James also asked that the judge order Trump pay a penalty of $5.6 million as well as enforce a 10-year ban on the president and his three oldest children from running any charities in the state of New York.
In the court filing, James stated, “In this vacuum of oversight and diligence, Mr. Trump caused the foundation to enter repeatedly into self-dealing transactions and to coordinate unlawfully with his presidential campaign.”
In an attempt to save face, Trump’s attorneys have claimed that the lawsuit is “flimsy” and “politically motivated.” But that didn’t stop them from agreeing to shut down the Trump Foundation back in December and distribute the remaining $1.7 million in funds to other non-profit organizations under the supervision of the courts.
However, their attempt to sweep this matter under the rug didn’t satisfy the parameters of the attorney general’s lawsuit — with James alleging that Trump blatantly violated the rules that prevent a charity from using funds for political purposes. In fact, James stated that depositions and email exchanges between parties of the charity are irrefutable proof that of illegal correspondence and coordination between the political campaign and the “charitable” foundation.
This lawsuit harks back to Donald’s infamous beef with Fox New’s Megyn Kelly. In lieu of participating in the debate with the Fox Network, Trump opted to hold a rally that was intended to raise money for veterans. However, the Trump Foundation served as a conduit for the donations received. Trump is also being accused of directing $100,000 of charity funds to settle a dispute over a flagpole at Mar-a-Lago.
Attorney General James, who was just elected in January, has vowed to “use every area of the law to investigate President Trump and his business transactions and that of his family.”
It looks like The Notorious RGB isn’t the only power woman that Trump should be shaking in his boots over.
Featured image via DC Tribune Gallery
Like what you see here? Join the discussion on Facebook over at Americans For Sanity!
