President Donald Trump complied with a court order on Tuesday and paid $2 million to settle charges that the Trump Foundation misused charitable funds.
Trump paid out the civil penalty to eight different charities as part of the resolution of a lawsuit brought by the New York State Attorney General’s office.
The state-level settlement forced the President to pay $250,000 to eight different charities, and split an additional $1.8 million remaining in the Trump Foundation’s bank account among the eight charities.
“Charities are not a means to an end, which is why these damages speak to the president’s abuse of power and represent a victory for not-for-profits that follow the law,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Each charity ended up receiving $476,140.41 under the settlement. Trump was also forced to admit to misusing charitable funds as part of the settlement.
The Trump Foundation came under scrutiny by the Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold, who tried to verify that the charity was making contributions. Fahrenthold – who received a Pulitzer for his work – instead found that the contributions had not been disbursed, leading to the NY AG investigation.
The Trump Foundation agreed to dissolve in December 2018, and a November 2019 court order mandated that the President pay up the additional funds.
James’ office holds wide authority over charities registered in New York state.
