Trump’s charitable foundation says it’s shutting down, but an ongoing investigation in New York may complicate that

Trump’s charitable foundation says it’s shutting down, but an ongoing investigation in New York may complicate that

• The Donald J. Trump Foundation, the president’s charitable organization, is reportedly dissolving itself.
• The foundation previously admitted to violating a federal rule on a nonprofit’s use of funds.
• The foundation was under scrutiny for allegedly misusing its funds, to include settling lawsuits.
• A spokesperson for the New York attorney general’s office said the foundation cannot shut down because it’s currently under investigation.

The Donald J. Trump Foundation, President Donald Trump’s charitable foundation, said it’s shutting down after it admitted in 2016 that it had violated federal rules on “self-dealing,” NBC News reported Monday.

The foundation admitted to violating the self-dealing law, in which a nonprofit’s leaders, such as Trump or his agents, are prohibited from channeling funds to their businesses, families, or themselves, NBC News said.

In a 2015 tax filing, the foundation acknowledged that it had violated the self-dealing law; however, for 2016’s filing, it reported that it hadn’t. The foundation was under investigation during the 2016 US presidential election after it was discovered that it may have misused its funds, including allegedly using it to settle lawsuits.

A spokesperson for the New York state attorney general’s office told NBC News that the foundation cannot shut down while it is currently under investigation, which could potentially complicate the dissolution.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman ordered the foundation to stop soliciting contributions in October 2016, and Trump later announced that he intended to dissolve the foundation in order to avoid conflicts of interest, NBC News reported at the time.

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