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Swordsmyth
11-20-2017, 05:20 PM
Fulfilling a promise he made in December 2016 (http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-11-20/year admitted that it violated federal rules on "self-dealing,"), NBC News reports (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/donald-trump-shutting-down-his-charitable-foundation-n822636) that President Trump is in the process of dissolving his charitable foundation, which admitted last year that it violated federal rules on "self-dealing."
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user3303/imageroot/2017/11/19/20171120_trump121.jpg (http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user3303/imageroot/2017/11/19/20171120_trump121.jpg)

As we noted in December (http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-12-24/trump-announces-he-will-dissolve-trump-foundation), the foundation, which has been the subject of several controversies and investigations, was originally set up to give away the proceeds from Trump's bestselling book, "The Art of the Deal." As The Hill writes (http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/311757-trump-planning-to-close-charity-foundation-report), the book's co-writer, Tony Schwartz, told CBS News he has received $1.6 million in royalties, per a 50-50 split agreement with Trump. A Washington Post investigation in June found that Trump had personally given his foundation $2.8 million of the book's proceeds over the past 15 years, and nothing since 2009.
The foundation itself has given more than $13 million to charity since it was founded, but only $4.9 million has come from Trump himself, according to the CBS report.

More at: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-11-20/trump-dissolves-charitable-foundation-promised

euphemia
11-20-2017, 07:04 PM
*Only* $4.9 million. People forget that is a lot of money. It's a whole lot more than Al Gore ever gave.

Raginfridus
11-20-2017, 07:10 PM
man of his word

Zippyjuan
11-20-2017, 07:13 PM
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-trumps-charitable-foundation-shut/story?id=51287398


The organization had come under scrutiny for its practices.

Last year the Trump Foundation conceded that it gave "income or assets" to a "disqualified person" — a prohibited practice known as self-dealing — according to a 2015 tax filing obtained by ABC News. It was not clear from the filing how much was given or to whom.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman launched the investigation into the Trump Foundation in 2016 over a donation that was made to a political fundraising group associated with Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. He ordered that the foundation stop fundraising late last year.

At the end of 2016, the Trump Foundation had a little more than $970,000 in assets, according to last week's filing.

Even though his name is the basis for the charity, Trump was never the biggest contributor, according to the organization's 990 forms for 2001 through 2014.


rump made contributions to the foundation from 2001 to 2008, but he is not listed as making any financial contributions since then. His contributions ranged from $713,000 in 2004 to $30,000 in 2008; his total contributions to his foundation are in excess of $2.7 million.

Earlier this year, the New York Attorney General's Office also launched an investigation into the Eric Trump Foundation after questions were raised about the charity in light of a media report that it paid large sums to use Trump-owned properties for fundraisers.

Zippyjuan
11-20-2017, 07:17 PM
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/eric-trump-funneled-cancer-charity-money-businesses-associates/story?id=47878610


Eric Trump funneled cancer charity money to his businesses, associates: Report

Eric Trump is slamming a Forbes report that alleges his charity, the Eric Trump Foundation, has been funneling donations -- from donors who believed the money was going to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital -- to the Trump Organization by paying high sums for use of Trump properties during fundraisers and redonating some funds to charities friendly with Trump interests.


Forbes reported Tuesday that the Eric Trump Foundation paid the Trump family business hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last seven years for use of one of the organization’s golf courses, funds which he claimed were being donated nearly in full to the children’s cancer charity.

"We were able to come up with this concept of raising a lot of money with really no expense and it's because we were incurring the expenses at the assets we were taking on the expenses as Trump. We were using our own facilities," Eric told donors in a promotional video.

According to IRS filings, the Eric Trump Foundation in 2012 spent $59,085 on its annual Golf Invitational fundraiser held at the Trump National Golf Club in Westchester County, New York -- money that skimmed from donations to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. Those expenses ballooned to $230,080 in 2013 and to $242,294 in 2014, according to the filings. It is unclear from these tax forms how much of those payments went to the Trump Organization.



In addition, the Forbes report claims that Eric Trump's charity redirected some donations. More than $500,000 was given by the Eric Trump Foundation to other charities, "many of which were connected to Trump family members or interests," according to Forbes.

phill4paul
11-20-2017, 07:31 PM
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/eric-trump-funneled-cancer-charity-money-businesses-associates/story?id=47878610


It is unclear from these tax forms how much of those payments went to the Trump Organization.

Well, hell.

phill4paul
11-20-2017, 07:34 PM
Even though his name is the basis for the charity, Trump was never the biggest contributor, according to the organization's 990 forms for 2001 through 2014.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-trumps-charitable-foundation-shut/story?id=51287398

How much did the Clinton's give to the Clinton foundation?

Zippyjuan
11-20-2017, 07:42 PM
https://www.vox.com/2016/9/13/12888492/trump-foundation


Trump’s donations trickled in 2007 and 2008, and from 2009 onward Trump has given no money to the Foundation. Its largest donor, instead, is wrestling executives Vince and Linda McMahon, who’ve given $5 million as part of a relationship with Trump that’s included him making appearances on their wrestling broadcasts.

Another noteworthy donor is NBC Universal, the company that aired Trump’s television show, The Apprentice (NBC Universal is also an investor in Vox Media, Vox.com’s parent company), on which Trump pledging to make charitable contributions was a regular feature.


It spent $20,000 on a portrait of Donald Trump, for example, and $12,000 on buying Trump an autographed Tim Tebow helmet. When Trump's Mar-a-Lago club racked up $120,000 in fines from the town of Palm Beach, Florida for violating a local ordinance regarding the height of flagpoles, Trump eventually settled the dispute by agreeing to a $100,000 donation to a veterans' charity — and then had his foundation rather than the club pay the tab.


$100,000 to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and $35,000 to Samaritan’s Purse, both run by Franklin Graham who later defended Trump during the controversy over his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States.

$40,000 to the Drumthwacket Foundation, a charity whose mission is the upkeep of the New Jersey governor’s mansion and whose donors mostly have close ties to Chris Christie.


Melania Trump paid $20,000 at a charity auction for a portrait of Donald Trump. The Foundation cut the check, and the portrait reportedly landed at one of Trump’s golf courses.

Trump himself paid $12,000 at a charity auction for a football helmet autographed by Tim Tebow.

The Foundation also donated money to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, which was clearly illegal and resulted in a fine when it came to light. According to Fahrenthold, "Trump’s staffers said a series of errors resulted in the payment being made — and then hidden from the IRS."

There are also mixed cases, such as Trump giving Foundation money to the Palm Beach Police Foundation, which then in turn spent large sums of money on renting out the Trump-owned Mar-a-Lago resort for its annual gala.

Last but by no means least, the Foundation simply seems to sometimes just not do anything.

"Five times," Fahrenthold reports in a separate story, "the Trump Foundation's tax filings described giving a specific amount of money to a specific charity — in some cases, even including the recipient's address. But when The Post called, the charities listed said the tax filings appeared wrong. They'd never received anything from Trump or his foundation."