Donald Trump used $258,000 from his charity for legal settlements, reports say

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What’s a “greedy deal”? One that’s profitable? Is a non-greedy deal one in which one loses money?

I personally don’t mind the Clintons renting out the Lincoln bedroom (though that was theft) as much as I mind the Clintons getting millions of dollars from a Russian company to get 20% of U.S. uranium production, or getting millions from the Laureate school systems in exchange for millions in grants to that system.

As a taxpayer, I have to pay to change the sheets in the Lincoln bedroom anyway. But when the Clintons sell out the national interest or cause a net loss of millions to the country, I truly do resent that.
For the uranium deal … known as Uranium One … the Clintons collected: $145 Million !!

Not just a couple of million.

$145 Million.

In the book, “Clinton Cash” [and in the movie by the same name], the gory details of the deal are described in great detail.
 
It’s not unusual to settle with a charitable donation, but it’s extremely unusual and probably illegal to to make that charitable donation with money from a charity you run.

The foundation operating the tournament was NBA player Alonzo Mourning’s charity. Trump was sued as his golf course allegedly made the holes too short to qualify for the prize. The Trump Foundation was not involved in the tournament, so the only reason to pay the settlement with Foundation funds is because it’s money donated by other people.
You are mistaking a charity for a foundation. A foundation isn’t a charity. Foundations fund charities. Foundations primarily make money from its associated family / company, plus investment income from the investments the foundation makes.

It’s not uncommon for companies to borrow money from their foundation instead of borrowing money from a bank. In both instances, it very well may have made sense for the golf courses to borrow money from the Foundation and pay it back with interest instead of taking a loan from a bank. From the foundation’s point of view, it’s protected investment vs the stock market and mutual funds.

So this still isn’t an issue.
 
Trump does have less skeletons in his closet compared to Hillary. Way less, and that’s a fact. Also, Trump is a private citizen. Hillary was in one of the highest offices in our country. That’s the moral dilemma. Maybe Clinton supporters and Hillary don’t see the major moral and ethical dilemma here.
Trump only has less skeletons that we know of. However, he has admitted to only making contributions because he expected politicians to dance to his tune, he has business interests that may affect how other countries deal with us and expect us to deal with them if he becomes president, we now know that we does not pay close attention to how his subordinates adhere to legal requirements, and that he has been willing to put his name on any product as long as he was paid.
 
Trump only has less skeletons that we know of. However, he has admitted to only making contributions because he expected politicians to dance to his tune, he has business interests that may affect how other countries deal with us and expect us to deal with them if he becomes president, we now know that we does not pay close attention to how his subordinates adhere to legal requirements, and that he has been willing to put his name on any product as long as he was paid.
Trump paid and ran for his primary himself. He’s doing this because he says he wants to give back to the Country. He wants to do something good. Hillary has plenty of deals overseas just look at the Clinton Foundation payments while she was SOS. And before there was the Clinton Foundation there was the Clinton Library.
 
You are mistaking a charity for a foundation. A foundation isn’t a charity. Foundations fund charities. Foundations primarily make money from its associated family / company, plus investment income from the investments the foundation makes.
I was using the term “charity” generally; I understand the differences between private foundations and public charities. Foundations typically make most of their money from the family or company, and the Trump Foundation started out that way, but not anymore. It started 2007 with $4200 in the bank, and in 2007 and 2008 Trump donated a total of $65,000 and nothing since (or at least through 2014). All other funds have come from outside donors. So even if all of the money that Trump donated went to the settlements most of the settlement money was from outside donors. And it doesn’t matter anyway, since self-dealing is illegal.
It’s not uncommon for companies to borrow money from their foundation instead of borrowing money from a bank. In both instances, it very well may have made sense for the golf courses to borrow money from the Foundation and pay it back with interest instead of taking a loan from a bank.
“Disqualified persons” can’t borrow money from their private foundation. Trump, as an officer, is a “disqualified person” and can’t borrow money from the foundation for himself or his businesses. So if he borrowed money to pay the settlements and paid it back that would be illegal. That would have shown an iota of integrity though, he didn’t bother to pay the money back.
 
One of the portraits purchased with Trump Foundation funds has been located hanging in a restaurant at the Trump National Doral Resort in Miami.
 
It’s not unusual to settle with a charitable donation, but it’s extremely unusual and probably illegal to to make that charitable donation with money from a charity you run.

The foundation operating the tournament was NBA player Alonzo Mourning’s charity. Trump was sued as his golf course allegedly made the holes too short to qualify for the prize. The Trump Foundation was not involved in the tournament, so the only reason to pay the settlement with Foundation funds is because it’s money donated by other people.
Why is it “probably illegal”? If the donation actually went to charity to soothe the ruffled feathers, why is that not still a charitable donation? At least it didn’t go to pay the salary of Huma Abedin, one of Trump’s kids or the Libyan adventures of Sydney Blumenthal.

And it strikes me as highly improbable that the Mourning charity was not a named defendant if it was the principal in the tournament. So, Trump’s charity paid the hit for another charity for roughly ten cents on the claimed dollar. Remember, Trump was donating the use of the golf course for the sake of the charity. He probably paid a lot in the Mourning charity’s legal fees too by defending the suit.

I don’t blame Democrats for wanting to divert from Hillary’s egregious corruption, but these are poor targets to do it with.
 
One of the portraits purchased with Trump Foundation funds has been located hanging in a restaurant at the Trump National Doral Resort in Miami.
And it is wrong to put up artwork in a restaurant, for customers to see and appreciate?
Let’s compare that to using federal tax dollars (National Endowment of the “Arts”) to fund pictures of a glass of urine with a crucifix in it.

Please. :rolleyes:
 
Why is it “probably illegal”? If the donation actually went to charity to soothe the ruffled feathers, why is that not still a charitable donation?
I was trying to soften it but you’re right that it’s not “probably” illegal, it’s just plain illegal. “Self-dealing”, or an officer of a foundation using funds to benefit himself or his businesses is illegal. The legal obligation resulting from the lawsuit is Trump’s, not his foundation’s. By using Foundation funds to meet his legal obligations he is personally benefiting from charitable donations to the Foundation, or self-dealing. This violates tax laws.
And it strikes me as highly improbable that the Mourning charity was not a named defendant if it was the principal in the tournament. So, Trump’s charity paid the hit for another charity for roughly ten cents on the claimed dollar. Remember, Trump was donating the use of the golf course for the sake of the charity. He probably paid a lot in the Mourning charity’s legal fees too by defending the suit.
Mourning’s charity was also named in the suit. I don’t know if they had to pay any settlement, but the Trump course was sued for colluding with the tournament’s insurance company to make the holes too short to qualify for the prize.
 
And it is wrong to put up artwork in a restaurant, for customers to see and appreciate?
Yes, if that artwork was purchased by a private foundation for one of the foundation’s officers. In 2007 tax filings the Trump Foundation declared that it did not violate rules by using charitable donations to “furnish goods, services, or facilities” to one of its officers. It bought a painting for Trump, one of its officers.
 
One of the portraits purchased with Trump Foundation funds has been located hanging in a restaurant at the Trump National Doral Resort in Miami.
So, an anti-Trump “investigator” found a portrait or print and declares it to be the one the Foundation paid for and publishes his “finding” without verifying anything, even that it was an original. Couldn’t possibly be another portrait or a print, of course, because the “investigative journalist” declared it to be the very one the Foundation paid for.

I’m modestly proud of some copies in my office of very valuable paintings made by starving artists during the Depression, hired by the Roosevelt administration to keep them from starving to death and to be “uplifting” to people who might want them. They were found in a government warehouse perhaps 20 years ago or so. They’re all numbered, of course. They’re extraordinarily well done, and using materials too expensive now for anybody to duplicate.

Well, and I have some prints made of paintings done by an artist, well-known in St. Louis. They’re very nice; watercolors, so you can’t tell they’re just prints. The originals are in an art museum in St. Louis to this day, as far as I know.

Oh, and I have some prints of some Civil War paintings too, done by a fairly well-known artist. To my surprise, I went to a funeral recently in a large city, and two of the prints from the same series were hanging in the funeral parlor.

But, of course, the portrait located by the “investigative journalists” couldn’t possibly be anything but the self-same original purchased by the Foundation. After all, he saw it for a few seconds. :rolleyes:
 
I was trying to soften it but you’re right that it’s not “probably” illegal, it’s just plain illegal. “Self-dealing”, or an officer of a foundation using funds to benefit himself or his businesses is illegal. The legal obligation resulting from the lawsuit is Trump’s, not his foundation’s. By using Foundation funds to meet his legal obligations he is personally benefiting from charitable donations to the Foundation, or self-dealing. This violates tax laws.

Mourning’s charity was also named in the suit. I don’t know if they had to pay any settlement, but the Trump course was sued for colluding with the tournament’s insurance company to make the holes too short to qualify for the prize.
Ah, so Mourning’s charity was named in the suit as a defendant. No surprise. So Trump, who donated the use of the golf course to the charity, took the burden off Mourning’s charity by paying it for them. Still charitable. Not like paying Huma Abedin to arrange pay-to-play deals.

“Settlements” involving charitable donations are not a “win” for the plaintiff. They’re a token made so the plaintiff doesn’t have to say he “lost”. The donation was still to charity. If Trump had a “legal obligation” to the plaintiff, the money would have gone to the plaintiff.

It’s not as if Trump collected millions to sell 20% of American uranium to Russia (thence to Iran) or something. :rolleyes:
 
So, an anti-Trump “investigator” found a portrait or print and declares it to be the one the Foundation paid for and publishes his “finding” without verifying anything, even that it was an original. Couldn’t possibly be another portrait or a print, of course, because the “investigative journalist” declared it to be the very one the Foundation paid for.
The Trump campaign has been asked numerous times for over a week now where the portraits are and what charitable use they’re being put to. It’s the portrait purchased in 2007, so I’m sure if it’s a print the campaign will say something.
 
“Settlements” involving charitable donations are not a “win” for the plaintiff. They’re a token made so the plaintiff doesn’t have to say he “lost”. The donation was still to charity. If Trump had a “legal obligation” to the plaintiff, the money would have gone to the plaintiff.
I didn’t say the settlement donation was a win for the plaintiff, I said the settlement donation was a legal obligation to settle the case. It doesn’t matter where the money to settle the lawsuit is going, it can’t come from a private foundation unless the private foundation was the entity being sued. The Trump Foundation was not being sued; Trump’s golf course was. It is illegal for Trump to use Trump Foundation funds to pay for his own or his businesses’ legal expenses.
 
The Trump campaign has been asked numerous times for over a week now where the portraits are and what charitable use they’re being put to. It’s the portrait purchased in 2007, so I’m sure if it’s a print the campaign will say something.
And perhaps they will. And it doesn’t have to be a print. It could also be another painting of the same guy.

But one thing is for sure, the money mentioned in the thread title indisputably went to charity or to benefit a charity.
 
And perhaps they will. And it doesn’t have to be a print. It could also be another painting of the same guy.
It’s not another painting; it’s the image he purchased at the auction in 2007, and posed next to in photos at the auction after he bought it. If it’s a print it’s a print of the image purchased with Trump Foundation funds and potentially kosher, if it’s the original it’s illegal use of charity money.
But one thing is for sure, the money mentioned in the thread title indisputably went to charity or to benefit a charity.
It did. It’s a shame that it came illegally from the Trump Foundation.
 
According to you. Apparently not to the IRS.
Unfortunately the IRS doesn’t have the resources to examine every transaction in the country, but media attention can focus the agency on tax law violations. The newly opened investigation into the Trump Foundation by the NY Attorney General will also provide more information and share the investigative burden.
 
I didn’t say the settlement donation was a win for the plaintiff, I said the settlement donation was a legal obligation to settle the case. It doesn’t matter where the money to settle the lawsuit is going, it can’t come from a private foundation unless the private foundation was the entity being sued. The Trump Foundation was not being sued; Trump’s golf course was. It is illegal for Trump to use Trump Foundation funds to pay for his own or his businesses’ legal expenses.
A settlement is not a “legal obligation” until it’s made. Trump had no “legal obligation” to settle anything. But another charity, which Trump was trying to benefit, was a co-defendant with the golf club. If the Mourning charity wasn’t already in need of money, it would not have asked Trump to use the golf course for the tournament. Trump Foundation took the burden off Mourning’s charity by giving the Plaintiff about ten cents on the dollar. Big deal. It still benefited a charity. How does anybody know Trump himself wouldn’t have fought the plaintiff to the very end? Truth is, they don’t. But Trump’s club wasn’t the only defendant. It’s entirely possible for one defendant in a lawsuit to win and another to lose.

And why is it illegal for Trump’s foundation to pay the legal expenses of another charity?

This is not a case of Trump’s foundation paying his kid or his aide a princely salary to do something to line Trump’s personal pockets like the Clinton Fjoundation was doing. But I guess the Clinton machine has to come up with some kind of argument since it can’t point to any accomplishments of its candidate other than selling the nation’s interests to foreigners.

The difference is this:

The Trump Foundation payments went to or for charities. No question about that.
Clinton Foundation payments went to support Clinton’s political machine and daughter. No question about that either.
 
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