What I want to know is why the NY attorney...

[LAS14]

... general's office didn't discover this missing registration until now! Does it mean the good ol' boys really do "trump" party loyalty? Not that I think party loyalty should affect the AG's activities.... But were they bending over backwards not to look at mega rich Republicans?

[Cicada]

1. They have limited resources. Unlike Santa they do not know everyone naughty or nice.

[beachbumbob]

2. Lots of paper to go through......and who knows how long

They been sitting on it?.... All I know it keeps negative attention trump...and that's all good

[LAS14]

5. It's one registration. You'd think they'd prioritize large or suspect charities.

[alcibiades_mystery]

3. The lengths you go to to blame somebody other than Trump

are amazing.

[LAS14]

6. No "lengths." Must have taken me 45 seconds...

... to type the post. What's this forum for if not to find out what's going on?

[alcibiades_mystery]

7. OK, only 45 second to blame somebody other than Trump

Much better.

[LAS14]

22. Of course I'm not excusing Trump. But if this is...

... an opportunity to plug some gaps in our laws that allow the 1% a free ride we should certainly attend to it.

[obamanut2012]

19. ikr

[Else You Are Mad]

4. Because rich celebrities...

Have a different set of rules than us average folk. If I operated a non-profit organization that was used to launder money to avoid paying taxes, I would have been caught almost immediately and would have been sentenced to a significant prison term.

[TexasBushwhacker]

9. I think they probably assumed he had registered it properly

Of course, it's possible he paid somebody off.

[Else You Are Mad]

10. I don't know the specific laws of NY

But, I would assume he would have to register every year or so with the NY secretary of state to ensure the charity is still active and valid. I would also think he would have to provide Form 990s and such with the IRS to keep the non-profit status. There is no way that it would have/shoukd have gone unnoticed since the 80s.

[LAS14]

11. Yeah. That's what I'm wondering. Is this another example...

... of how the top 1% lead charmed lives?

I'm hoping the AG's offices in all states launch a review of the simple paper work non-profits operating in their states.

If they discover that this is difficult to do, then we need to change things so it's EASY to do.

[asiliveandbreathe]

14. Just saw your reply - great minds think alike..LOL

[MineralMan]

8. Why would he (or she)?

If no papers were filed for the foundation, how would the state even know it existed? Government agencies work with what they know about. Unless someone complained, causing an examination of the foundation's paperwork, it might as well not exist, from the state's point of view.

Failing to file the proper papers in a jurisdiction happens constantly. Sometimes, it's an oversight, and other times it's an intentional attempt not to be noticed. I suspect the latter in Trump's case. I can hear Trump: "What the State of New York doesn't know is none of my concern."

[LAS14]

12. See post above about making such reviews EASY.

[MineralMan]

17. How do you review what does not exist?

There is a reason people don't file such papers. If they don't exist, they can't be examined. Your post above ignores that.

I've headed a couple of non-profit organizations that filed paperwork establishing them. It was a pain in the ass, but we couldn't buy liability insurance without an official filing. We needed liability insurance, because we held public meetings and the places we met required that insurance. Both of those organizations didn't even have any money at any time. We didn't have dues. We didn't accept donations. All costs were covered by myself and a couple of other people, and they didn't amount to more than a few hundred dollars a year.

And yet, we could not get liability insurance without becoming an official non-profit organization. So, we found an attorney who was a member who did the filings for us on a pro bono basis. The spaces we used were also made available at no cost.

Were it not for that insurance issue, we'd have just gone right on holding meetings and doing exactly what we had done all along. Nobody would have even known we existed, officially. How can you review an entity that is completely undocumented?

There are reasons for not officially filing things. Some are good one and some are unethical.

[PJMcK]

18. Excellent explanations

You've outlined the issues effectively, MineralMan. Thank you.

For the most part, organizations are assumed to be following the laws. The only reason that they would be investigated is if they were alerted by, say, a whistleblower or if the organization's activities brought it into the public eye as with the Trump Foundation. It's similar to the IRS in that it's a "voluntary" system and a filer's honesty is generally presumed; it's when you've done something that raises a red flag that causes authorities to pay attention. I think this is what's happened with the Trump Foundation and the NY AG's interest.

This is yet another of the many, many reasons Donald Trump has made a huge personal error by running for president. He's self-destructing his brand and perhaps fatally harming his company. Specifically, his prominence has cast a spotlight on all the nefarious things he's done in his life. This could be the beginning of a whole lot of hurt for Mr. Trump.

[LAS14]

21. The IRS does regular audits. AGs should do something similar...

... for charities that ought to be registered in their state. If they are not easy to identify we ought to make it EASY to identify them. You'd think the IRS wouldn't allow use of charities that weren't properly registered.

[asiliveandbreathe]

13. I would think every state will now look at the paper work

of ALL fundraising Foundations...they can thank trump for all the scrutiny they are about to get....

[karynnj]

16. ALL Foundations - including those that - on paper - do not fund raise - like Trump nt

[karynnj]

15. His foundation was set up as if it was just getting his money - which is true for many family

foundations. Looking JUST at his forms, they wouldn't catch anything. I think a serious investigation of the charity would have established that it received donations - but it seems it was never done.

As to the AG, I think he has an outstanding reputation for integrity.

[yellerpup]

20. The Trump Foundation isn't registered.

They can't oversee them if they aren't registered. The bribe to the Florida A.G. (connected to Trump Univ.) clued them in and they started looking to see if he had violated state laws. He's not a registered charity so all they can do is send him a cease and desist order for now. Pending, of course, further investigation. I predict future fraud charges.

[etherealtruth]

23. I am sure it wasn't registered for exactly the reason you state

"They can't oversee them if they aren't registered."

[yellerpup]

25. He's sneaky alright.

NY will prosecute him. He has NO chance of taking NY. We know him well and we despise him--even (maybe especially) the mega-rich.

[duncang]

24. Limited resources

Remember the ag has a lot of things to keep a eye on. Not just charities. Also the way he registered it as a charity that didn't accept outside donations puts it under less scrutiny.

The thing to really wonder about is the pam bondi bit. And just not that she got a check and passed on prosecution of trump u.. But she actually received a check from the trump foundation charity. As ag she should have known that was illegal.