We begin today’s roundup with The New York Times and its editorial on the Trump family incredible corruption in its handling of the Trump Foundation:
It’s long been clear that Donald Trump’s family foundation, the Trump Foundation, is not a generous and ethical charity, but just another of his grifts. He branded it the way he brands his buildings, using his name to generate income that he then has used largely for his own benefit. In 2016, The Washington Post reported that many of Mr. Trump’s boasts about his charitable giving could not be verified. Those that could be were often gifts to himself.
For instance, the largest reported donation the foundation has made — $264,631 — was used to refurbish the fountain in front of Mr. Trump’s Plaza Hotel in New York. He has not given any of his own supposed fortune to the foundation since 2008, relying instead on the beneficence of others, whether pro-wrestling mavens or simply Americans who thought they were supporting, say, veterans. And yet the Trump Foundation was repeatedly compared with the Clinton Foundation, which, despite justifiable concern about Bill and Hillary Clinton’s dual roles as philanthropic boosters and politicians, is a credible charitable enterprise that focuses on global health and has saved perhaps millions of lives.
Bess Levin at Vanity Fair explains how the foundation was essentially another Trump slush fund:
Here’s a taste of the allegations regarding how the family charity misappropriated its funds:
$5,000 was used to advertise Trump Hotels; $10,000 was spent on a portrait of the president, later found on display at the the sports bar at Trump’s Doral golf resort; $100,000 was allegedly used to settle a legal dispute with the city of Palm Beach, which Trump resolved by contributing the amount to the Fisher House Foundation; $258,000 was allegedly used to settle lawsuits against Trump and his businesses, including $158,000 paid to a man named Martin Greenberg, who sued the Trump National Golf Club after it failed to pay him a promised $1 million for scoring a hole-in-one at a charity golf tournament.On that last point, the suit helpfully includes a large photocopy of a note, written in Trump’s signature style, explicitly directing his staff to use the charity’s money to fix his legal problem.