Trump agrees to shut down charity

Move comes amid allegations he used it for personal, political benefit

U.S. President Donald Trump has agreed to shut down his embattled personal charity and to give away its remaining money amid allegations that he used the foundation for his personal and political benefit, New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood announced Tuesday.

Underwood said that the Donald J. Trump Foundation is dissolving as her office pursues its lawsuit against the charity, Trump and his three eldest children.

The suit, filed in June, alleges “persistently illegal conduct” at the foundation, which Trump began in 1987. Underwood is continuing to seek more than $2.8 million (U.S.) in restitution and has asked a judge to ban the Trumps temporarily from serving on the boards of other New York non-profit organizations.

Underwood said Tuesday her investigation found “a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation — including unlawful co-ordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and wilful self-dealing, and much more.”

“This is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone,” she added in a statement.

The shuttering comes after The Washington Post documented apparent lapses at the foundation. Trump used the charity’s money to pay legal settlements for his private business, to purchase art for one of his clubs and to make a prohibited political donation.

Trump denied that the organization had done anything wrong. In late 2016, he said he wanted to close the foundation before he became president to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest. But the New York attorney general blocked that move while the investigation continued.

The settlement with Underwood’s office represents a concession by Trump to a state inquiry he has decried as a partisan attack. The case is one of numerous legal investigations of Trump organizations that have proliferated during his presidency.

In a court filing in New York, Underwood said the foundation’s remaining $1.75 million will be distributed to other charities approved by her office and a state judge.

Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for the Trump Foundation, issued a statement criticizing Underwood for “politicizing ” the agreement.

“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,” Futerfas said. “Unfortunately, the NYAG sought to prevent dissolution for almost two years, thereby depriving those most in need” of the foundation’s money, he said.

Futerfas said the foundation had given away about $19 million.