President-elect Trump’s charitable foundation has admitted to violating laws against “self-dealing,” which is the use of charitable funds for the benefit of people leading a charity.
According to report filed with the IRS on Monday and uploaded to a website that tracks nonprofits by attorneys representing the Trump Foundation, the foundation checked “yes” on its 2015 tax form when asked if it had transferred “income or assets to a disqualified person.” That could mean money was moved to someone like Trump or his children, who are legally barred from using funds from the charitable foundation.
The foundation also admitted to engaging in self-dealing in previous years by responding “yes” to a separate question on the same form. The findings were first reported by the Washington Post.
Legal documents and tax records obtained by the Post earlier this year revealed that on more than one occasion the Trump foundation flouted self-dealing laws by issuing checks to certain charities at the request of individuals and entities with whom the president-elect had become involved in legal troubles.
For example, the Trump foundation made a $100,000 donation to a charity for veterans in 2007 to avoid paying fines imposed on his Mar-A-Lago beach resort by local officials.
“Wasn’t some of the money used to settle your lawsuits, sir?” Fox News’ Chris Wallace asked Trump during the final presidential debate in late October. Trump declined to respond to Wallace’s question and instead identified which veterans’ charity he had contributed to years prior.
The billionaire was also accused of using foundation funds to successfully bid on a football helmet and jersey signed by Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow at a charity auction in 2012.
The tax filings made public Monday night do not disclose details about the various instances in which the Trump foundation violated self-dealing laws, nor did they confirm whether Trump has faced any penalties for doing so in years prior.
Even as he prepares to enter the Oval Office in January, Trump’s charitable foundation remains under investigation by the New York attorney general’s office, which recently reached a $25 million fraud settlement in a case involving Trump University.
“No part of the funding of my clients’ settlement … will come from any charitable foundation or other charitable entity,” Trump’s attorney, Alan Garten, wrote in a letter to New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Monday.
