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President Donald Trump
Leah Millis | Reuters
A judge Thursday ordered President Donald Trump to pay $2 million to settle a suit by New York’s attorney general alleging he misused his Trump Foundation charity to benefit his 2016 presidential campaign, in addition to other unlawful activity over more than a decade.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Saliann Scarpulla ruled that more than $2.8 million raised by the Trump Foundation had been “used for Mr. Trump’s political campaign and disbursed by Mr. Trump’s campaign staff, rather
than by the Foundation” itself.
“A review of the record, including the factual admissions in the Final Stipulation, establishes that Mr. Trump breached his fiduciary duty to the Foundation and that waste occurred to the Foundation,” Scarpulla wrote in her ruling.
Scarpulla lowered the settlement figure to $2 million after taking into account that those funds did ultimately get to the veterans’ charities they were intended for, according to the court filing. Scarpulla also declined to impose punitive damages on Trump — which would have added millions to the settlement — because Trump had taken steps to ensure the alleged illegal activity would not occur again.
The lawsuit was filed in June 2018 by then-New York State Attorney General Barbara Underwood against Trump and his three eldest children — Ivanka, Eric and Donald Jr. She alleged that the “pattern” of illicit behavior included “improper and extensive political activity, repeated and willful self-dealing transactions, and failure to follow basic fiduciary obligations or to implement even elementary corporate formalities required by law.”
A spokesman for New York’s current attorney general, Letitia James, had no immediate comment when contacted by CNBC. The White House referred a request for comment to Trump’s presidential campaign, which did not immediately respond to a query from CNBC.
The president has raged on Twitter about the civil suit, attacking “sleazy New York Democrats” and vowing, “I won’t settle this case!”
The Trump Foundation agreed to dissolve last December and donate its remaining funds to charity.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.