Separately, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he has opened an investigation into the Trump Foundation to make sure it complies with state laws governing charities.
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On Tuesday, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman told CNN his office has corresponded with the Trump Foundation to inquire into its practices amid concerns that it “may have engaged in some impropriety”.
Trump’s foundation, which for years has been funded by money the billionaire businessman raises from others rather than his own cash, has come under increasing scrutiny following reports by the Post, AP and others.
Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller called Schneiderman’s comments as “nothing more than another left-wing hit job created to distract from Crooked Hillary Clinton’s disastrous week”.
As far back as 2013, the Republican candidate said the attorney-general was “trying to extort me with a civil lawsuit”.
The $25,000 (£19,000, €22,000) payment was made at a time when Mrs Bondi’s office was reportedly considering whether to open a fraud investigation into Trump University.
In a letter that all 16 Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee sent Tuesday to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, ranking member John Conyers of MI said federal investigators should determine whether the 2013 donation and Bondi’s decision not to join the NY lawsuit violated federal bribery or tax laws. Trump paid the IRS a ,500 penalty this year, and representatives for the Trump Organization have said he reimbursed the charitable foundation from his personal account. Trump continues to campaign for his run for president of the United States.
It comes as a British man who allegedly tried to grab a policeman’s gun at a Trump rally has pleaded guilty to some of the allegations against him – to try to get a reduced sentence. And in July, he told NY delegates at the Democratic National Convention that Trump’s business practices have left a “trail of broken contracts, unpaid bills…and ruined lives”, Syracuse.com reported.
Yahoo News reported last week that the Trump charity donated 100,000 dollars to a conservative group that was suing Schneiderman as he was probing Trump University. The foundation said that it incorrectly believed the organization receiving the money was a 501 (c)(3) charity.
“Once Mr. Trump learned of the mistake from the news media, he publicly acknowledged the mistake and promptly took corrective action”, the letter reads, including reimbursing the foundation $25,000.
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The foundation said that it would train its staff and officers “to ensure that it will not use any of its funds for political purposes in the future”, according to a July 15 letter from the AG’s office to the foundation.
