Donald Trump’s personal philanthropy used over $250,000 to litigate lawsuits against Trump’s business interests, according to a new Washington Post report.
On four occasions, The Donald J. Trump Foundation cut checks to settle suits — a controversial and potentially illegal tactic given that the Foundation is funded primarily with other donors’ money, not his, according to the Post review of legal documents and interviews.
The most substantial donation was $100,000 to Fisher House, a veterans’ charity, as part of a settlement with the city of Palm Beach, Florida, home to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club.
And another check for $158,000 was distributed from the Foundation as a way for a Trump golf course to settle another lawsuit, according to the Post.
“Trump is using his charities to benefit his businesses, which is against the law,” Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold told CNN’s John Berman and Kate Bolduan of his report.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment on the report.
Trump’s Foundation has come under scrutiny from investigators and Democrats over possible pay-for-play schemes. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is investigating the foundation to make sure it is abiding by state charity law, and House Democrats have called for the Department of Justice to look at Trump’s relationship with Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who declined to formally investigate it.