Report: Trump's foundation relies wholly on other people's money

The Donald J. Trump Foundation has been collecting donations from charities and using them to benefit other charities, with little to no money coming from the GOP nominee himself, according to a Washington Post investigation.

As the Post puts it, Trump’s foundation is “a charity that allowed a rich man to be philanthropic for free.”
Trump reportedly hasn’t given the foundation any of his own money since 2008, when he contributed $30,000 — a $5,000 decrease from the year before.

In 2007, Trump reportedly used the foundation’s money pay for a 6-foot painting of himself that his wife bought at an auction. According to the Post, the IRS prohibits a charity’s officers from using the group’s money to buy things for their own benefit.

The foundation was also reportedly used to funnel money to fulfill promises Trump made on his TV show "The Apprentice." NBCUniversal donated $500,000 in 2012, enough to cover the "personal" contributions Trump pledged on-air.

It wouldn’t be the only time the foundation has run afoul of the IRS. Last week, the Post also reported that Trump paid a $2,500 fine for using the foundation to make a political contribution to a PAC supporting Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi in 2013, whose office at the time was considering an investigation into Trump University.

The report also said that the barebones foundation has misrepresented donations it’s made in the past. The Post contacted four charities that the foundation claimed it had donated to that said they had never received any money.

The Trump campaign declined to comment for the report.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/295305-report-trump-has-been-giving-other-peoples-money-to

Last edited by Goose (9/11/2016 6:18 am)