*** Breaking *** Donald Trump’s Charity Scandal Is About to Go National

[ffr]

New York could be just the start. Donald Trump’s charity may soon be in hot water in states across the country—part of a long and painful process that could tie up the Republican nominee to the election and beyond.

The trouble began on Monday, when New York’s Attorney General ordered the Trump Foundation to immediately stop fundraising in the state because they had not properly registered to do so. As part of the order, the Trump Foundation will be required to provide detailed financial records about its charitable activities—just three weeks before Election Day. At least four apparent Trump Foundation donors, all New York businessmen, will also be under the microscope.

The Trump Foundation drew the eye of the AG’s office in large part due to a January fundraiser he held which was meant to help veterans. The money collected for the event, which Trump attended in lieu of a Fox News debate, in fact went into his foundation. Only later—and under pressure—was it distributed to veterans’ organizations.

Following that event, a series of investigative stories lifted the lid on the foundation and how it functioned as a kind of piggy bank for its founder’s political interests. In years past, Trump used foundation cash to settle personal legal disputes costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, bought paintings of himself and in one high-profile case gave money to a PAC supporting Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi—an illegal act for which Trump had to pay a $2,500 fine.

So push has finally come to shove.

To make matters worse for the Trump Foundation, the probe may not be limited to New York: Charity experts and lawyers tell The Daily Beast that the attorneys general of other states may soon get involved in a long, drawn-out process. - TheDailyBeast

The bad news for Donald's campaign just keeps on trucking.

[saltpoint]

1. Guy's a genius, I tell ya, a genius. eom

[ToxMarz]

13. I think (hope at least) he will go to his grave lamenting the day he decided to run for President.

[George II]

19. Hopefully he will go to his cell lamenting the day he decided to run for President.

[Cha]

58. Wouldn't that be the ultimate sweet karma, George? It's been

reported that he decided to run for president when he was humiliated by President Obama in 2011 @ the WHCD for being a racist birther.

No mention that trump was trying to humiliate Obama by saying he wasn't born in the USA and was basically not one of us.

[saltpoint]

24. Seconded. I think we're not alone, either. eom

[NewJeffCT]

39. I don't think he's capable of lament

he'll blame everybody else involved - Pence, Melania, his campaign managers, Crooked Hillary, Kasich if he loses Ohio, Jeb and Rubio if he loses Florida, the media, etc.

If there are charges from any of these investigations, he'll likely flee the country and take up residence at his Trump Resort and Golf Course on the Black Sea...

[cynzke]

15. Genius is the new euphemism for CROOK!

What passed under the radar a few months ago was a story about Trump magazine having financial problems and employee pay checks were bouncing. Then the magazine passed out brown bags filled with cash! And was the cash equivalent to the employees salaries AFTER standard deductions for taxes, FDIC and SS with holdings? Did Trump magazine pay the deductions to the feds, etc. or did they POCKET THAT MONEY. Why pay cash? Did it come from the Trump foundation? Given how it was reported today that Trump is willing to circumvent the law to avoid paying sales taxes, wouldn't put anything past him now. Hope THIS is being investigated too!

http://www.thewrap.com/trump-magazine-survivor-describes-bounced-paychecks-living-in-an-onion-article/

[saltpoint]

25. Yep. There's some pretty shifty shifts

shuffling about mighty Trump Tower.

A certain real estate mogul better watch out for the moment should the fecal matter encounter the rotating blade device.

[machoneman]

61. What's truly amazing to me......

...is that Trump never, ever had the idea that running for the top job would open up his entire empire and every business and personal dealings to extreme scrutiny.

I mean, what unknowing moron would not have seen that for decades every Presidential candidate and their running mates have been scrutinized to the nth degree by every sentient reporter, news hound, investigator, you name it?. Did he not think of this or did he think he was so lily white (orange?) in his personal life and business dealings that no dirt would ever turn up?

Geesh, for a guy who makes such outrageous claims, he's a terrible businessman, one who understands nothing and worse, is so clueless about politics that he's now shocked everyone is going after him.

Schadenfreude at work is wonderful btw!

[War Pigs]

63. bubble boys like drumpf have ZERO

Self awareness or ability to connect the dots in a negative way. Thanks Obama! !!!!!

[saltpoint]

68. Agree. He evidently did not see that

his whole portfolio would be under the microscope, or even worse, he knew but thought he could continue to conceal the shady dealing.

Either way -- yuck.

[radical noodle]

51. I saw that too

and wondered why it didn't get any coverage. The media was likely covering Hillary's sneeze or something.

Any time people start paying with bags of cash, it's obvious there's something going on that shouldn't be. Some small businesses think that money coming in is their money rather than money that has to run through the business, but Trump has taken it to a grand scale.

As for the cash paid to the employees at the magazine, it would not surprise me to find that he took the deductions out but never paid them into the appropriate tax entities, giving him even more money.

[saltpoint]

69. Yes. Trump's entire presentation is

traced in this piece:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/23/trump-s-mobbed-up-mccarthyite-mentor.html

-- and it's not a pretty picture. I came away from the article with a bad case of the creeps. But I think it is the 'Trump' he presents to the media, to the public.

[radical noodle]

71. I've been reading

The Truth About Trump by Michael D'Antonio and there is quite a lot of shady dealing in it. Not necessarily illegal, but skirting it and I'm only halfway through the book. I imagine he got bolder as time went on. D'Antonio is a Pulitzer Prize winner, so I trust this as not just being a made up hit piece.

[saltpoint]

72. I may have to give it a look -- thanks for

the rec.

[War Pigs]

64. yes ruddy ghouliani has made losing billions

The new genius business model. When he's not covering people in spittle or leaving an ill wife that is

[saltpoint]

70. There was a time when Rudy was the leading

Republican candidate for the presidency. It seems almost impossible to believe now, because he's been on the tv machine spewing propaganda about Trump.

This is still a country where many people are struggling to make ends meet, and it just doesn't help to have Rudy calling Trump a "genius" for losing 916 million bucks.

The hyper-capitalist wing of the GOP is as delusional as the fundie nutbag wing. The Republicans are in pretty sorry condition for a once-strong national party.

[C_U_L8R]

2. I don't expect the Florida AG to do a thing

Apparently the check cleared

[ffr]

3. She may go to jail sometime after the election, if not get impeached for racketeering

She may not realize it, but she broke the law.

[MagickMuffin]

9. Or the Texas AG, birds of a feather

Hopefully daylight will expose these "Alien" Criminals. Couldn't resist after hearing it repeatedly last night.

[Dustlawyer]

28. He is now our Governor!

Trump cannot expect to follow his old MO and offer a campaign contribution this time to get out of it.

[MagickMuffin]

41. That is true that Greg Abbott got Trump donations ahem BRIBES

But our AG would never investigate the fraud. Especially since he is another fraudster!

from N. Texas

[NewJeffCT]

33. the check clearing is a surprise

she must have demanded it be a cashier's check

[radical noodle]

52. It was a Foundation check

that's how he got caught. But she should have to pay most of it back because it was well over the limit for an individual to give (and the Foundation should not have been involved at all).

[pennylane100]

4. Yet Pence was stupid enough to criticize the Clinton Foundation.

I wanted him to point out to Pence that trump uses him foundation as a personal slush fund and ask him if spending thousands of donation dollars to pay off his law suits and purchase expensive portraits was appropriate and why was the Trump foundation under criminal investigation and yet the Clinton Foundation has no been accused of any illegal activities.

I think his aggressive manner was to help Hillary lay some more bait down at their next meeting to set the psycho off on another tangent, He has a very skin thin and Kaine has give her much fodder to set him off. I think that was part of his determination to come on strong and call out all Trump's lies.

[Ligyron]

26. That's it.

The Clinton Foundation story has turned into the Trump Foundation story.

One is a charity which has saved untold lives in Africa and across the world. Pays it's founder and family zero too, btw.

The other is a scam foundation "charity" which pays all its family members a nice salary and engages in criminal acts - many of which have yet to come to light.

Repercussions now and way after the election. Even if somehow (dog forbid) Dump managed to win he's probably going to be spending a lot of time in court along with a couple of AG's and others. He's gonna love that.

Can't wait for Sunday debate!

[Coyotl]

66. Trump Foundation crimes is WHY they have to attack the Clinton Foundation. Their base sucks it up.

It is a form of political immunization, to get ahead of a scandal by accusing the opposition of the same or worse offenses.


We need a list of Trump's known crimes.

[alfredo]

74. He is doing that so he can say his case is a partisan witch hunt.

Private charities don't have to play by the same rules as a public foundation. Trump's is private, Clinton's is a public charity.

[Doctor Jack]

5. How credible is the daily beast?

I see them quoted frequently here but i know nothing about them. Are they a real site or is it one of these no quality control, random bloggers post whatever they want kind of things?

[klook]

12. Founded by a former editor of The New Yorker.

Yes, it's a pretty good source on the whole.

[PJMcK]

37. It's a great site

Their reporting is accurate and relatively fair. Often, the writing is excellent. I read it and highly recommend it.

http://www.thedailybeast.com

[SleeplessinSoCal]

46. Credible enough to get this review at Google Play Store

[link:[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]|

[MADem]

78. It's quite credible, like Newsweek, but online. nt

[Buckeye_Democrat]

6. More great news!!

We all know he's been using that charity as a scam!

Using it to pay personal lawyer fees and a disgusting painting of himself for display at one of his properties! Not to mention the Bondi story!

Speaking of Bondi, would she suddenly be declared FAT according to Trump if she turned against him? She looks great to me, by the way! Looks great... not that she's a good person at all!

[LAS14]

7. Yeah, but...

the bad news for us is that it just doesn't seem to matter.

"The bad news for Donald's campaign just keeps on trucking"

[ffr]

8. You may think so, but every since the first Pres debate, Donald's numbers have been plummeting.

Just go to any election forecast site. They all show his bad press, and her good press, are having a huge effect.

[LAS14]

11. I agree that the debate helped, because...

... Hillary showed herself to be presidential and Donald showed himself to be a bumbling idiot. But reports of Donald's misdeads/crimes just seem to roll off the public's back.

[NewJeffCT]

34. That was the secret

When Clinton gets on stage and people actually watch her, they tend to like her. That's why her numbers took off after the DNC. However, after the media went into 24-7 Trump Mode, he started catching back up, despite all the scandals. She and Kaine barely got any mention in the media, and neither did Sanders nor Elizabeth Warren. Obama got some attention, but only because he's the friggin' president!

[MADem]

79. What doesn't seem to matter?

Have you checked the polls lately?

The Donald is doing poorly.

[Democat]

10. Maybe one state a week should indict him until November?

Keep it in the news.

[groundloop]

22. That would be a grand total of 3... should be one state per day !!!!!

[jmowreader]

31. There are three that have good solid cases against him

New York for all the shit he's done there, and FL and TX for bribing their attorneys general.

[SunSeeker]

14. Brings a whole new meaning to "law and order candidate."

[George II]

17. He breaks the "law" in "order" to line his pockets!

[Buckeye_Democrat]

18. So that's what that means! Lol.

[George II]

20. Only one president and one vice-president have not finished their terms except for death....

...both from the SAME administration! And they both resigned because they were crooks.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

21. Trump only likes "the best" crooks! n/t

[GentryDixon]

36. You win.

[George II]

16. Can we delay the election until all of these stories are out?

[PJMcK]

40. Absolutely not!

Your sentiment is completely understandable, George II, but there are two reasons that we shouldn't postpone the election.

First, it's unconstitutional and illegal. The Constitution directs Congress to select the day for the National Election and in 1845, they designated it as the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of years evenly divisible by four. Simply, it can't be changed without a Constitutional amendment or change of the election law.

Second, it's unnecessary. Donald Trump and his campaign are swirling the drain. I know, we Democrats cannot get complacent. But Hillary Clinton has been increasing her lead with just a month until the election. It's becoming increasingly difficult to logically find a path to a Trump victory.

Besides, the Trump onion has begun to peel. With each revelation about his business and his life, Donald Trump is finally being publicly vetted. As each new story comes out, his support weakens. This is going to go on for years and more and more malfeasance will come to light. I truly believe that by the end of it, Mr. Trump will be finished and bankrupt.

It couldn't happen to a more deserving fool. His out-of-control narcissism drove him to this campaign and it will be his undoing. It's Shakespeare and F. Scott Fitzgerald wrapped into a modern comic-tragedy. If he hadn't run for president, all of the scrutiny that he's about to experience would never have happened. He could have kept his cons going for the rest of his life. But now, he's about to be humiliated over and over for the next several years. I don't believe his psyche can handle it.

[murielm99]

23. I certainly hope this goes somewhere.

I remember Fitzmas. I never got my hopes up too much for that one.

Dear Donald: Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.00.

[Ardoewaan]

56. There is no silver bullet

You have to keep pushing all the buttons. Get out the vote, advocate Hillary, attack Trump on all his negatives

[AllyCat]

27. A previous Sanders supporter is telling me this is all legal.

[Maeve]

32. That person is wrong. Trust the NY AG eom

[AllyCat]

35. No joke!

[catbyte]

29. I hope the media doesn't pull a bullshit false equivalency to the Clinton Foundation.

[Bill USA]

30. good news. this guy is a sleaze-ball

[Kathy M]

38. Good to hear .....

[MoonRiver]

42. BRING IT ON!

[napkinz]

43. Lock Him Up!

[ffr]

44. .

[DFW]

45. I think I know the number of votes a scandal like this or even an indictment would cost Trump

It's pretty close to the number of people that would show for a Trump rally in Provincetown, Massachusetts in the summer.

[JCanete]

48. why the fuck does it take election scrutiny for these oversight organizations to do their job.

Question is rhetorical of course.

[ColemanMaskell]

54. What it takes is negative publicity of any kind. No gov't agency likes negative publicity.

[JCanete]

57. Yeah, its just that apparently it doesn't warrant scrutiny by the press enough to ever

generate negative publicity unless it is finally ready to sink a campaign or social media has somehow gotten there first. More likely than not digging into shady financials and collusion is probably even discouraged, given that our fourth estate is owned by the very kinds of people and mega-corps that engage in this kind of shit.

[Orsino]

77. For the same reason we have charities.

We lack the political will to tax and to distribute tax dollars effectively. Oversight of charities is an even lower priority.

[niyad]

49. and yet, it does not seem to matter in the slightest to his loyalists.

[Osakagreg]

67. His loyalists often say, "I've never heard that."

Granted, they don't care what he's done. But I have also heard many of them say, I never heard him say that, allowing their own ignorance to justify their position.

[oasis]

50. "The Art of the Swindle". nt

[volstork]

53. Do tell!

[ffr]

55. Tomorrow.

[KewlKat]

59. Also this - Trump Used Foundation Funds for 2016 Run, Filings Suggest

By Rebecca Berg
October 04, 2016

As Donald Trump began making noise about a possible bid for president in 2011, South Carolina conservative activist Oran Smith caught the celebrity businessman’s eye as a particularly vocal and potentially influential critic.

"Trump would get thumped here,” Smith, president of the Palmetto Family Council, a social conservative public policy group, told the Christian Broadcasting Network. “He is a celebrity, but an apprentice at politics.”

Smith’s comments appeared in a March 2011 CBN story alongside feedback from other key national evangelical leaders such as Ralph Reed and Tony Perkins. Shortly after the story ran, Trump called Smith and invited him to meet at Trump Tower in New York, Smith told RealClearPolitics, “to see if he could convince me those things weren’t true.”

“It probably had something to do with, I was in an early primary state,” Smith said. Trump was “laying the foundation for a ... campaign,” Smith thought at the time, although “it was difficult trying to tell if he was serious about running for president or not.”

goes on to say.........From 2011 through 2014, Trump harnessed his eponymous foundation to send at least $286,000 to influential conservative or policy groups, a RealClearPolitics review of the foundation’s tax filings found. In many cases, this flow of money corresponded to prime speaking slots or endorsements that aided Trump as he sought to recast himself as a plausible Republican candidate for president.


SOURCE: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/10/04/trump_used_foundation_funds_for_2016_run_filings_suggest.html

[tblue37]

60. Very stupid of him to draw the spotlight by running for president when he has so many shady

activities that he needs to keep under wraps, but his ego just had to be fed by the run for office.

Even stupider of his kids not to realize that he was putting their own financial situation at risk as well.

[machoneman]

62. Yep!

I said the same up above. One could now add 'fool' to his long list of superlatives. Running opened up every single even minute detail of his life and business dealings to extreme scrutiny.

We have already read about how Trump's hotel, casino and resort/golf bookings are way down, where his name had been taken off buildings in foreign countries, where his brands have been yanked from retail stores and where Ivanka's brands have also tanked at retail. Destroying now his former empire, in tatters and bound to get worse, seems to be a trait he's repeated before. I also hope this Presidential run ends up breaking him....for good!

[MADem]

80. He wanted revenge. He was angry at Obama for mocking him

and his birther shenanigans at the Correspondent's Dinner. Obama laid into him but good, quite deservedly, and HUMILIATED him...and thus, his ambition was born.

It blinded him and made him focus, intensely, on getting the GOP nomination. He slashed and burned his way to the top, but he's a lousy, lying candidate...so lousy that Republicans are saying publicly that they won't vote for him. It's more than a lack of enthusiasm...in many corners, it's repugnance!

[Nitram]

65. Good news. It's about time.

[rivegauche]

73. YESSSSS. Finally.

Makes you wonder what took so goddamned long for all of this to come out.

[Grins]

75. Why should NY state have all the fun? Huh? Huh? N/M

[JoePhilly]

76. He's going to have to start donating more money to more State AGs!!