New York Attorney General launches investigation into Eric Trump’s charity

Forbes is reporting that the New York Attorney General’s office has opened an investigation into Eric Trump‘s charity after it was reported that it may have funneled money to his father’s charity, the Donald Trump Foundation.

In the midst of its investigation into the Donald Trump Foundation, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman turned his agency’s focus to Eric Trump’s charity for suspected violations of both New York state law and federal law on self-dealing and misleading donors.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Eric Trump hosted an annual golf tournament for 10 years that raised millions of dollars for Saint Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, but $100,000-worth of donations were funneled through the Eric Trump Foundation back into Trump’s golf courses for tournament expenses, despite donors’ belief that all their money would go towards the charity.

From Forbes’ June 6 report:

And while donors to the Eric Trump Foundation were told their money was going to help sick kids, more than $500,000 was re-donated to other charities, many of which were connected to Trump family members or interests, including at least four groups that subsequently paid to hold golf tournaments at Trump courses.

All of this seems to defy federal tax rules and state laws that ban self-dealing and misleading donors. It also raises larger questions about the Trump family dynamics and whether Eric and his brother, Don Jr., can be truly independent of their father.

The Forbes report revealed that the order to bill the Eric Trump Foundation for hundreds of thousands of dollars came from none other than Donald Trump himself.

“The attorney general’s office is looking into the issues raised by this report,” New York State Attorney General communications director Eric Soufer said, referring to the initial Forbes report.

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Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.