In an extraordinary move against a sitting US president, the attorney general of New York state has filed a lawsuit against the Trump family’s charity, the Donald J. Trump Foundation, accusing it of violating charity laws and seeking to have it closed down. Barbara Underwood filed her action last week, following a two-year investigation. The lawsuit accuses the charity and the Trump family of multiple illicit dealings – such as using the foundation’s funds to settle legal claims against Trump’s businesses – and violations of campaign funding laws. The state is seeking $2.8m in restitution and
penalties, and to have the foundation’s remaining $1m in assets handed to other charities; it also wants Donald Trump to be banned from managing a charity for ten years. He blamed “sleazy New York Democrats” for the lawsuit and vowed to fight it.
