President Trump has agreed to shut down his embattled charitable foundation and distribute the remaining money to “reputable” groups, New York’s attorney general announced Tuesday.
State Attorney General Barbara Underwood secured a written agreement dissolving the Trump Foundation under judicial supervision, her office said. It was a primary goal of a lawsuit filed by her office in June.
The attorney general said her investigation found “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.
She had accused Mr. Trump of using some of the charity’s money to settle legal claims against his business and to purchase art for one of his clubs. The president has denied any wrongdoing and said two years ago that he wanted to close the foundation, but the attorney general blocked that move during the investigation.
Trump Organization lawyer Alan Futerfas said in a statement, “the foundation has been seeking to dissolve and distribute its remaining assets to worthwhile charitable causes since Donald J. Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election. Unfortunately, the [state attorney general] sought to prevent dissolution for almost two years, thereby depriving those most in need of nearly $1.7 million.”
The lawsuit against Mr. Trump and his children will continue for actions related to the charity’s operation. Ms. Underwood is still seeking nearly $3 million in restitution and a court order that would temporarily ban the Trumps from serving on the boards of other nonprofits in the state.
Ms. Underwood’s office said the Trump Foundation “has signed a stipulation agreeing to dissolve under judicial supervision, with review and approval by the attorney general of proposed recipient charities of the foundation’s remaining assets.”
Her lawsuit charged “persistently illegal conduct” at the charity. The legal action says the president and his three eldest children violated campaign-finance laws and abused the foundation’s tax-exempt status.
Mr. Futerfas said the foundation has donated nearly $19 million during the last decade, including what he said was $8.25 million of Mr. Trump’s money, to more than 700 charitable organizations.
The foundation’s largest donation was a $264,000 gift to the Central Park Conservancy in 1989 for the restoration of a fountain that sat outside the Plaza Hotel, which Mr. Trump owned at the time, the Washington Post reported.
The suit says the foundation paid $158,000 to resolve a lawsuit over a prize in a golf contest at a Trump property and $10,000 to buy a 6-foot portrait of Mr. Trump at a charity auction.
The foundation’s tax return listed its net assets at slightly more than $1.7 million.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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