Trump used $258,000 from his charity to settle legal problems

[RogueTrooper]

Source: Washington Post

Donald Trump spent more than a quarter-million dollars from his charitable foundation to settle lawsuits that involved the billionaire’s for-profit businesses, according to interviews and a review of legal documents.

Those cases, which together used $258,000 from Trump’s charity, were among four newly documented expenditures in which Trump may have violated laws against “self-dealing” — which prohibit nonprofit leaders from using charity money to benefit themselves or their businesses.

In one case, from 2007, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club faced $120,000 in unpaid fines from the town of Palm Beach, Fla., resulting from a dispute over the size of a flagpole.

In a settlement, Palm Beach agreed to waive those fines — if Trump’s club made a $100,000 donation to a specific charity for veterans. Instead, Trump sent a check from the Donald J. Trump Foundation, a charity funded almost entirely by other people’s money, according to tax records.



Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-used-258000-from-his-charity-to-settle-legal-problems/2016/09/20/adc88f9c-7d11-11e6-ac8e-cf8e0dd91dc7_story.html

[underpants]

1. From what I've seen this whole thing is a dispute over the size of a pole

No text needed

[Hugin]

4. It was a charitable assessment.

No text needed.

[Ilsa]

8. Ya' think he's compensating for something? LOL nt

[Coyotl]

66. Nobody should have to pay that much in fines for his bad pole

No text needed

[world wide wally]

2. Where are the fraud charges?

[Hekate]

40. Coming right up, one would hope.

[Raven]

3. Self dealing...

"Self-dealing is the conduct of a trustee, an attorney, a corporate officer, or other fiduciary that consists of taking advantage of his position in a transaction and acting for his own interests rather than for the interests of the beneficiaries of the trust, corporate shareholders, or his clients."

Trump has done it with his foundation and is doing it with his candidacy.

[Jade Fox]

5. The first Presidential Election where one candidate is under indictment?

Could we be looking at that?

[Hugin]

7. Trump can't be the first at anything...

There must be a precedent on indicted Presidents, somewhere. U. S. Grant?

[haele]

50. Grant was not indicted - often cited for reckless carriage driving and speeding but never arrested.

Nixon was considered an unindicted co-conspirator for a crime, which was the reason he resigned from office before he would be impeached for taking part in a crime even though he was not charged or cited for it. Spiro Agnew, however, was allowed to plead no contest and was not indicted for his part in some high level government extortion, tax fraud, and bribery charges that were being investigated starting prior to his election as Nixon's VP.

Reagan was never mentioned during the investigations and trials over his administration's scandals. I'm pretty sure it was because everyone knew he wasn't competent enough to know what was going on; his reality was based on the script his "advisors" wrote for him.

Indictment is not the same as impeachment, so there's often some confusion as to if a crime has been committed when a president is "held accountable".

Andrew Johnson was not indicted for anything actually criminal, but Congress still held a vote for impeachment because he was an ornery SOB and didn't handle Reconstruction the way Congress thought he should.
Likewise, Bill Clinton was not indicted, but went still through impeachment for the appearance of impropriety, lying and whatever else a conspiracy of frustrated prudes could throw at him, but was acquitted because nothing criminal was actually done.

So yes, if elected, there's enough evidence out there that Trump could be the first sitting president actually indicted for a criminal act during his time in office.

Haele

[Hugin]

51. Well, it's something for him to aspire then.

Man, he sets those bars really really low! I should've known.

Thanks for the history lesson.

[Coyotl]

67. The first time a candidate proclaims he gets his ass kissed for political contributions, TTBOMK

Last edited Wed Sep 21, 2016, 01:01 AM - Edit history (1)

[Coyotl]

6. Tax evasion is a crime. Using a tax-exempt foundation for tax evasion is a crime.

I'll add this one to the list:

We need a list of Trump's known crimes.

[onehandle]

9. Prosecute this fucker! nt

[CanonRay]

10. If this guy is half as rich as he claims

why would he need to hit the charity for a quarter mil? That's pocket change to a "billionaire". His whole life is one big scam, IMHO.

[narnian60]

17. +1

[Sanity Claws]

30. I agree

The fine would have been tax deductible by Trump Enterprise or whatever business was involved.
The businesses have no money either.

[LuvNewcastle]

32. Exactly what I was thinking.

If he's any kind of billionaire, which I think is a total lie, it's all on paper. I think what he does is 'buy' properties and then he mortgages them to cover expenses to run the businesses. Since American banks won't lend him money anymore, he's been borrowing from some unsavory characters. Putin and other lesser figures in the Russian mob actually own those properties. Donald himself is practically broke, I think.

[Hamlette]

47. I think he "values" the "Trump brand" at $9.9B

Mark Cuban made this observation that he values his name by whatever he wants it to be at any given time.

[Bradical79]

68. Yeah, just a bunch of smoke and mirrors -nt

[Little Star]

11. As Elizabeth would say "He's a money grubber!"

[kennetha]

12. The feds need to indict this POS

The sooner the better.

Hopefully before the election!

[C_U_L8R]

13. That's really low.

Is there anything this guy's done that is not despicable ??

[Ilsa]

14. Donald really doesn't get the real and ethical purpose

of a foundation, does he? To him, it's just another legal vehicle to take credit for oothers' charitable acts, work the system, and dodge his own financial responsibilities.

[George II]

15. He erected a flag pole that was too big - little Marco was correct about him!

[ToxMarz]

16. And once he got it up

he fought tooth and nail to keep it up.

[DemoTex]

18. Trump is toast .. burned toast

His ego pushed him to run for POTUS, and now the chickens are coming home to roost. To totally mix metaphors, he has way too many petards in the fire.

[yorkie77]

44. I hope you are right

Fingers crossed

[SticksnStones]

19. I'm picturing Christie and Trump fighting over who takes the top bunk.

A girl can dream, can't she?

[SwankyXomb]

58. No contest

Christie will always bottom for the Domald.

[getagrip_already]

63. but do you think donald...

could actually climb into a top bunk?

Not a chance!

[neeksgeek]

20. I wish I had a quarter-million in charitable donations I could use any way I wanted. n/t

[csziggy]

21. His claim that the Clinton Foundation is a "multi-million dollar slush fund" is projection!

Trump only wishes his foundation could attraction as many donations as the Clinton Foundation. He will never understand that the reason the Clinton Foundation is so successful is that the Clintons use NONE of the money for themselves and the money is only used for good.

On the other hand the Trump Foundation is (mis)managed solely for the aggrandizement of Donald J. Trump and does little if any good in the world. If Trump had access to the kind of money the Clinton Foundation has, he would be buying people so they would do whatever Trump said.

[smirkymonkey]

61. +1000

[riversedge]

22. The Post sent the Trump campaign a detailed list of questions about the four cases, but received no

.....More broadly, these cases also provide new evidence that Trump ran his charity in a way that may have violated U.S. tax law and gone against the moral conventions of philanthropy.

“I represent 700 nonprofits a year, and I’ve never encountered anything so brazen,” said Jeffrey Tenenbaum, who advises charities at the Venable law firm in Washington. After The Post described the details of these Trump Foundation gifts, Tenenbaum described them as “really shocking.”

“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 a while,” Tenenbaum said.

The Post sent the Trump campaign a detailed list of questions about the four cases, but received no response....................

[riversedge]

29. "can't stop chuckling how DC press spent 18 mos trying to turn landmark Clinton charity into 'scanda

I have not had on TV today. Any discussion of this??


Eric Boehlert ‏@EricBoehlert 26m26 minutes ago

can't stop chuckling how DC press spent 18 mos trying to turn landmark Clinton charity into 'scandal'. meanwhile, Trump Foundation just....
58 retweets 97 likes







Eric Boehlert ‏@EricBoehlert 12m12 minutes ago

....how do you even describe what goes on at Trump Foundation? other than "illegal"?
24 retweets 35 likes
Eric Boehlert ‏@EricBoehlert 1m1 minute ago

here's a key pt re: Trump Foundation: it's TINY. for a guy supposedly worth $10B, the foundation's $$$ a joke. turns out it's also fraud.

[riversedge]

23. REC.

[barbtries]

25. this kind of graft

would land most people in jail. wouldn't it be nice if that happened to drumpf?
but of course iokiyar. i won't hold my breath.
it should be reasonable to believe that the respective foundations of the candidates will be under discussion at the debate though!
some of her donors wanted to meet someone. he STOLE money to cover his business debts!! big difference

[adigal]

26. Are we surprised?? The rules don't apply to Donald. This would get a mobster jailed

But not Donald. He won't pay any prices at all.

[Hugin]

33. He does things that would make Al Capone blush.

Yet, a compliant media waves it off with a flourish.

It's been like this with the Republicans for years.

[Satch59]

27. This story needs to have some serious legs...

Would be an awesome first question at the debate...

[Kingofalldems]

28. Special Prosecutor needed for Trump.

[Sunlei]

31. Thats how all those thousands of Republican personal "charities" roll.

[CincyDem]

34. So should this "Pole-Gate" or do we use the upgrade..."Pole-Ghazi" ? n/t

[Hugin]

53. "Pole-Gate-Gazi"?

There needs to be something about a "server" in there too.

[rivegauche]

35. Is there ANY crime, any behavior that he won't get away with?

This asshole is a proven liar and grifter. WHEN will he be held accountable for the gigantic messes he's made? For crying out loud. The IRS needs to get medieval on his ass!

[calimary]

36. Speaking of Mar-a-Lago (and other places - like maybe that new Washington DC hotel of his,

Let's not forget - EVERY TIME he holds some press event or public rally or anything for his political campaign - ON/IN ONE OF HIS PROPERTIES, he's gonna bill the campaign for renting it, so he can flush some of that campaign money into his own pocket.

It's a RACKET. It's just another racket he thought up to pocket more money. And in this case, it's campaign money that he's using to make a personal profit. I don't know if that's even legal. He's nothing more than a mercenary and a crook! And a COWARD because he sneaks around like this and is always pulling devious sneaky-ass shit like this. That's what a COWARD does.

And why is THAT?

Because this is stuff you don't do out in the open, above board, in the sunlight where everybody can see you. You pull shit like this behind closed doors and under the table and in the shadows where fewer eyes can see.

[Cryptoad]

37. Ole Al Capone thought he could not fall from grace

but it was the Feds and the IRS that sent him up to the Big House! May be the same with Trump

[Still In Wisconsin]

38. And will there be ANY electoral consequence from this?

Of course not. He's Trump. He could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and his supporters would still love him, remember?

[maxsolomon]

39. "Whoopsie!"

IOKIYAR. there will be no consequences.

[TonyPDX]

41. So, what are the legal and tax penalties an ordinary citizen would be subject to? Anyone? Anyone?

[Hekate]

42. KnR

[yorkie77]

43. So glad this WaPo reporter is doing research

This charity is anything but....

[mahatmakanejeeves]

45. Let's have some credit for the reporter, David Fahrenthold.

David A. Fahrenthold covers the 2016 presidential campaign for The Washington Post. He has been at the Post since 2000, and previously covered Congress, the federal bureaucracy, the environment, and the D.C. police.  Follow @Fahrenthold

[e-mail]

https://twitter.com/Fahrenthold



David FahrentholdVerified account

@Fahrenthold

Washington Post reporter. Follow my search for Donald Trump's charitable giving here: http://goo.gl/lWzsoU

Washington, DC

washingtonpost.com

Joined July 2009

Also, let's mention Rosalind Helderman, who has assisted Fahrenthold on at least one article:

https://twitter.com/PostRoz



Rosalind HeldermanVerified account

@PostRoz

Political investigations and enterprise reporter for @washingtonpost. Email me at [e-mail] and see more about me at http://wapo.st/1hcF2bZ .

Washington, DC

washingtonpost.com

Joined May 2011

[e-mail]

[RogueTrooper]

49. Awesome!

[Hugin]

52. Kudos!

It's nice to have some Journalism back!

[Old and In the Way]

46. Turns out Trump did a shitty job vetting himself!

Which makes me wonder why he would expose himself in a national campaign, knowing that this info would come out. I truly believe he has serious financial problems and may have been forced to run as partial payment to service this debt. Methinks Putin wanted this useful idiot in the WH looking after Russian interests. Agent Orange is a yuge national security disaster waiting to happen.

[LuvLoogie]

69. He bet on his celebrity versus the vestigial will of American Journalism.

[lark]

48. Cowardly Donald Trump used money other people donated to his charity

to pay his personal business costs. Need to hit him on that with every sentence, use his own tactics against him. Plus he would totally freak if HRC used that meme against him often during the debate. It could be quite comical.

[Hawaii Hiker]

54. I hope the nightly news channels cover this tonight

They'll no doubt talk about Brad & Angelina getting separated, so hopefully they can fit in the Trump fraud story

[Angry Dragon]

55. Grifter Donnie ......... This man should be in prison today

[pansypoo53219]

56. the rich STAY rich by not PAYING BILLS. or get RICHER.

because PT BRUMPUM thinks he is a big cheese, call him the WIMPY candidate. gimme the hamburger today & i will pay you later, GOP=WHIMPY EKONOMIKS.

[ColemanMaskell]

57. Thanks for sharing that article

[mahatmakanejeeves]

59. The Donald J. Trump Foundation at Wikipedia

The page was started on September 9.

Donald J. Trump Foundation

[smirkymonkey]

62. This just made me want to puke...

"On two occasions, Trump used Trump Foundation money to purchase portraits of himself.

In November 2007, Trump spent $20,000 in Trump Foundation funds to purchase a 6 feet (1.8 m)-tall portrait of himself at a benefit for a Florida charity held at his Mar-a-Lago country club in Florida.[15][16] The present whereabouts of the painting are unknown, but the painter's former production manager told the Washington Post that he had, at the request of Trump's wife Melania, shipped the painting to the Trump National Golf Club Westchester in Briarcliff Manor, New York for display in the country club's boardroom or conference room.[15] Tax experts told the Post that if the painting was displayed at the golf club, it could violate Internal Revenue Service rules prohibiting non-profits from self-dealing (i.e., using charitable funding for noncharitable purposes).[15] In September 2016, President Barack Obama publicly criticized Trump's purchase of the painting.[15][16]

In 2014, Trump purchased at a charity auction a 4-foot painting of a 1990's version of himself, paying for it with $10,000 in Trump Foundation funds.[14]"

[Native]

60. Lock Him Up!

[TonyPDX]

64. Sleaze. Ball.

[sakabatou]

65. Another scandal that his followers won't give a shit about

[Coyotl]

71. Of course, "his followers" isn't the same as the Republican Party or conservative Americans.

And "his followers" is a fast shrinking basket. Good, decent people, hard working Americans, don't abide a fool very well, a criminal less so. Trump is over, toast.

[duncang]

70. He also did a carnie scam what preceded one court case

According to the Chris Hayes show. Dipshit donnie assigned a specific hole at his golf course and that the hole in one had to be made from 150 yards. The hole was only 139 yards from the tee box. So when the golfer made the hole in one it was invalid. Dipshit had taken out a insurance policy to pay off the million dollar prize in case someone made it. When the insurance company found out the hole wasn't the full distance they did not pay off. Leading to the court case.

So in a snapshot dipshit donnie pulled something similar to a carnie scam where the ring is too small to fit over the bottle.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

72. Today's Front Pages at the Newseum

Copy it now. It will change.

Today's Front Pages at the Newseum

The Washington Post

[mahatmakanejeeves]

73. Comment, Wednesday morning:

DocinDC

11:09 AM EDT

Let's say that your started a charity.

Let's call it, oh, I don't know, "The Fund for People Suffering From Extreme Narcissistic Personality Disorder."

Now let's say that for seven years, you never put a dime into that charity--zip, nada, nothing.

Now, let's say that you ran into some personal legal problems--as you had over 1200 times before.

Now, let's say that rather than pay your bills--as you had refused to do with your workers, contractors, builders, and thousands of others who had believed your promises--you scooped both of your hands into your charity like a bowl full of Skittles.

Scooped out those donated funds--given as charity, to help those poor extreme narcissists who should never become President--scooped out those funds, and gave them--to yourself.

To pay your own legal bills.

That would be wrong, wouldn't it?

Now let's say that you had the habit of doing this over and over again--taking federal funds and using them for personal purposes, taking the money of hard working laborers and then refusing to pay them, taking billions of dollars of debt and then refusing to pay--but always, always, always, taking care of yourself.

Let's say that over seventy years, you had not learned a page of foreign or domestic policy.

Your knowledge of the Constitution, our governing document, was so poor, that you cited articles that did not exist.

You knew nothing of diplomacy, the processes of federal governance, or even grade school civics.

And let's say that your attitude towards the American people was such that you had been sued on multiple occasions by the Federal Government on Civil Rights violations--for barring Blacks, Latinos, Jews from your apartment buildings.

This wouldn't make a very good President, would it?

Don't be hoodwinked.

Don't be played for a fool.

Get out there and vote:

Against Donald Trump.