Legal case against Trump's 'charity' comes into sharp focus

[babylonsister]

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/legal-case-against-trumps-charity-comes-sharp-focus

Legal case against Trump’s ‘charity’ comes into sharp focus
03/15/19 09:20 AM
By Steve Benen


Donald Trump’s political operation is under investigation. So is his business. So is his inaugural committee. The president himself is the subject of an ongoing probe. But let’s also not forget the investigation into Trump’s charitable foundation.

It’s true, of course, that the Republican’s so-called “charity” permanently closed its doors a few months ago, after having been accused of engaging in a “shocking pattern of illegality.” But as Rachel noted on the show last night, the foundation can be both shut down and still held to account for its alleged misdeeds. As the Associated Press reported late yesterday:

Insider testimony, emails and other evidence show President Donald Trump turned his charitable foundation into a wing of his White House campaign, New York’s attorney general said in a new court filing Thursday.

State Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, detailed her case against the foundation in a 37-page court filing in a lawsuit that seeks $2.8 million in restitution and an order banning Trump and his three eldest children from running any New York charities for 10 years.

That $2.8 million in restitution doesn’t include an additional multi-million fine the state attorney general’s office is seeking as a civil penalty for the foundation’s alleged misdeeds.

snip//


As regular readers may recall, let’s also not forget the fact that the president personally signed federal tax returns – under penalty of perjury – swearing that his foundation wasn’t used for political and/or business purposes, and we now know there’s quite a bit of evidence that suggests it was used for both.

Jenny Johnson Ware, a criminal tax attorney in Chicago, told the New York Times last year, “People have gone to prison for stuff like this.”

[Wounded Bear]

1. Keep digging!

Follow the money.

[vlyons]

2. Trump is a life-long criminal

He has a criminal mentality. Lie, cheat, steal -- all in the service of gaming the system, pulling cons, stiffing the gullible and vulnerable for money. Honor to Trump is measured by how much money he has. We can go all the back to his school days, his first marriage, his first business deals and probably find numerous cheats, tax lies, false insurance claims, false business records. You name it.

And now a lot of his venal criminality will come to light. At last.

[dalton99a]

3. The con man belongs in prison, not the Oval Office

[Johnny2X2X]

4. Trump could be indicted for this

This was criminal activity that people go to prison for.

[smirkymonkey]

5. K&R