Trump’s three eldest children — Ivanka, Donald Jr. and Eric — were also named in the original lawsuit, because they were listed as board members at the foundation.
In reality, the board did not meet at all for 19 straight years, from 1999 to 2018.
[....]
The Trump Foundation had been a relatively small charity that in recent years had received very little in donations from Trump himself.
He donated nothing from 2009 to 2015.
Instead, the foundation subsisted largely on a gift from pro-wrestling moguls Vince and Linda McMahon: $5 million in total.
Linda McMahon was later appointed by Trump as head of the Small Business Administration.
The foundation’s troubles were first uncovered in 2016 — starting when a Post reporter attended a Trump campaign rally in Waterloo, Iowa. Onstage, Trump gave away a $100,000 check from the Trump Foundation to a local charity.
Federal law prohibits charities’ money from “participating” in political campaigns.
In addition, The Post found that Trump had used the charity’s money to make a $25,000 donation to a political committee associated with then-Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R). Charities are prohibited from making political gifts.
The Post also found that Trump had taken more than $250,000 from the charity to settle lawsuits involving his for-profit businesses.
And Trump had used the charity to buy things for himself, including a helmet signed by former pro football player Tim Tebow, and a large painting of himself that was later hung on the wall of Trump’s Doral golf resort in Miami.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... story.html