NY AG sues Foundation

by Danny Cevallos
Jun.16.2018 / 2:07 PM ET

The New York attorney general filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump and the Donald J. Trump Foundation on Thursday, alleging that Trump violated both federal and state law in the mismanagement of his charitable organization.

The New York attorney general’s petition is essentially a civil — not a criminal — complaint. Most defendants would prefer being sued than being prosecuted. But for the presidency, a civil action potentially can do more damage than an indictment.

That’s because — while it remains an open question whether a president is immune from indictment, arrest, or prosecution while in office — there is less debate about presidential immunity from civil suit. The 1997 Supreme Court case of Clinton v. Jones affirmed broad, absolute presidential immunity, but limited that immunity to acts “taken in an official capacity” — holding that a president’s conduct before he became president was not an official act entitled to that absolute immunity ...

The petition alleges the foundation was “little more than a checkbook” for payments to not-for-profits. Trump allegedly used charitable assets to pay off the legal obligations of other entities he controlled, to promote Trump hotels (which are obviously not charitable organizations), to purchase personal items, and to support his presidential election campaign. The petition charges a number of specific instances, such as misusing foundation funds to settle legal disputes for his golf club, and to purchase a $10,000 portrait of himself ...

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/new-york-attorney-general-sues-trump-foundation-what-might-happen-n883901