Trump Foundation agrees to dissolve under judicial supervision

Cheriss May | NurPhoto | Getty Images

n the grand lobby of Trump international Hotel, (l-r), Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, U.S. Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump, Melania Trump, Tiffany Trump, and Ivanka Trump, cut the ribbon for their latest property, Trump International Hotel – Old Post Office, in Washington, DC on October 26, 2016.

The Donald J. Trump Foundation has agreed to dissolve under judicial supervision and to give away its remaining funds while New York state conducts an investigation into whether the president’s namesake charity misspent donations.

“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,” New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood said Tuesday. She said the foundation had functioned “as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump’s business and political interests.”

Following the announcement, Trump lawyer Alan Futerfas told NBC News the foundation, and not the state, had initially sought the dissolution. “We are happy that we could get this resolved,” Futerfas said. The White House referred questions about the foundation to the Trump Organization.

Under the dissolution agreement, after the judge approves the deal, the Trump Foundation will have 30 days during which to give away the balance of its funds, $1.75 million, to charities.

The list of charities set to receive funds from the foundation will need to be approved by the court and the attorney general’s office.

Underwood also said her office will continue to pursue its lawsuit against the charity, the president and his three eldest children “to ensure that the Trump Foundation and its directors are held accountable for their clear and repeated violations of state and federal law.”

The dissolution announced Tuesday marked the culmination of nearly two years of investigative reporting by national news organizations, led by The Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold, into how the Trump Foundation operated.

While the charity never represented more than a small portion of Trump’s financial portfolio, it was emblematic of how the Trump family approached many of its financial arrangements. Funded by money from Trump’s friends and business associates, and not by Trump himself, the charity nonetheless made its donations in Trump’s name, so Trump got the credit for giving away other people’s money, according to the reports.

To this day, the motives of many of the donors to the Trump foundation remain unknown, including those of pro-wrestling moguls Vince and Linda McMahon, who gave millions of dollars to the foundation. Linda McMahon currently serves in Trump’s Cabinet as administrator of the Small Business Administration.

Questions about where the foundation’s money came from are dwarfed, however, by questions about where it went. IRS records show that Trump used the foundation’s money to pay legal settlements for his for-profit company, to bolster his political career, and to grease the wheels within his business, political and social circles.

The Post’s David Fahrenthold writes:

The largest donation in the foundation’s history — a $264,231 gift to the Central Park Conservancy in 1989 — appeared to benefit Trump’s business: It paid to restore a fountain outside Trump’s Plaza Hotel. The smallest, a $7 foundation gift to the Boy Scouts that same year, appeared to benefit Trump’s family. It matched the amount required to enroll a boy in the Scouts the year that his son Donald Trump Jr. was 11.

Trump’s three eldest children, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump, all served as directors of the foundation, although it was later revealed that they had never actually held a board meeting.