If you were wondering exactly what Donald Trump’s idea of charitable giving consists of, a new report from the Washington Post proves conclusively that the Orange Menace thinks money given to the charity which carries his name exists only to serve him and pay his expenses.
The Post report, written by David Fahrenthold, shows that more than $250,000 from the Donald J. Trump Foundation was used to settle lawsuits that involved Trump’s business dealings. And the fact that Trump used money meant for charitable purposes also suggests that he broke laws which are meant to prevent “self-dealing.” Self-dealing is when the leader of a nonprofit or charity uses funds to benefit themselves or their business.
In one of the cases, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club had racked up $120,000 in fines from the city of Palm Beach, Florida, for a dispute over the size of a flagpole which had been installed. Palm Beach said they’d gladly waive the fines if Trump made a donation to a charity for veterans. So Trump sent a check from the Trump Foundation even though the majority of the money in the foundation came from other people.
In another instance, a golf courses in New York owned by Trump agreed to settle a lawsuit by making a donation to a charity. Tax records clearly show that a $158,000 donation was made by the Trump Foundation.
Should the IRS conclude that Trump did indeed engage in self-dealing, he could be forced to pay penalty taxes or reimburse the Trump foundation for the money it spent to settle his legal disputes. Trump is also under investigation by the office of the New York attorney general, which is trying to establish if the foundation broke state charity laws.
Jeffrey Tenenbaum, an attorney who advises charities, said of the new Trump Foundation revelations:
“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 a while.”
Yet again we see that Donald Trump is nothing but a common con man, a grifter, and a liar. No wonder he doesn’t want anyone to see his tax returns.
This article was originally published by the same author at LiberalAmerica.org