New York attorney general shut scam foundation...

Trump Foundation to shut down under agreement with New York attorney general

By LAURA NAHMIAS

President Donald Trump's personal charity will shut down and disperse whatever funds it still has under a new agreement announced Tuesday by New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood.

The attorney general’s office sued the Trump Foundation in June, alleging the president and several of his children used it for their persona`l and political benefit. That lawsuit, which seeks millions of dollars in restitution, will continue, even as the foundation agrees to cease existence.

The agreement, which still must be approved by a judge, requires the Trump Foundation to submit a list of not-for-profit groups that will receive distributions from the remaining assets.

Underwood alleged in her lawsuit that Trump’s charity was, for years, “little more than an empty shell” with no oversight by a functioning board of directors, and she pointed out that the nonprofit had not had a board meeting since 1999.

Underwood said the foundation also made a series of questionable donations to other charitable organizations to settle legal claims involving Trump businesses, including his South Florida Mar-a-Lago retreat, while another donation went toward promoting Trump’s international hotels. The attorney general’s office also alleged that Trump handed over control of the charity to his presidential campaign in 2016, as it made strategic donations to charities and events in key campaign states like Iowa and New Hampshire.

Trump has denied the foundation did anything wrong, but he said in 2016 that he was willing to dissolve the charity. Alan Futerfas, an attorney for the foundation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

“Our petition detailed 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," Underwood said in a statement Tuesday. "This amounted to the Trump Foundation functioning as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump’s business and political interests."

“Today’s stipulation accomplishes a key piece of the relief sought in our lawsuit earlier this year. Under the terms, the Trump Foundation can only dissolve under judicial supervision — and it can only distribute its remaining charitable assets to reputable organizations approved by my office,” the attorney general said, declaring the planned dissolution of the president’s nonprofit “an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone."