September 29, 2016 | No Comments
The New York attorney general is probing Donald Trump’s reported use of money from his charitable foundation to settle a private legal dispute, a lawyer for the town of Palm Beach, Florida, confirmed.
The lawyer, John Randolph, said that the attorney general’s office contacted him to request documents related to a settlement Trump made with the town of Palm Beach in 2007 over unpaid fines. Last week, the Washington Post reported that Trump settled the dispute by paying $100,000 from the Donald J. Trump Foundation, an apparent violation of self-dealing rules that prevent officers of charitable organizations from using funds for their personal benefit.
Before last week’s report, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman — who is suing Trump for fraud over the business practices of Trump University — revealed he had opened an inquiry into the Trump Foundation over “troubling transactions that have recently come to light.”
News that the inquiry had grown to include the Palm Beach settlement was first reported by Talking Points Memo. A spokesman for Schneiderman declined to comment.