Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:44 pm
In a pair of tweets Monday night, Donald Trump laid out some bold and highly dishonest claims about his foundation, claiming “100% of money goes to wonderful charities!” His foundation was ordered to stop fundraising in October as a result of an investigation by the State of New York.
In fact, it has been obvious for awhile that Donald Trump’s foundation is guilty of doing exactly what he had accused the Clinton Foundation of doing, which makes his ridiculous tweets even more laughable:
I gave millions of dollars to DJT Foundation, raised or recieved millions more, ALL of which is given to charity, and media won't report!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 27, 2016
The DJT Foundation, unlike most foundations, never paid fees, rent, salaries or any expenses. 100% of money goes to wonderful charities!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 27, 2016
Trump’s dishonesty is breathtaking in scope, given how he used his foundation to buy portraits of himself to hang in his own properties and an autographed Tim Tebow helmet, not to mention, as Rebecca Berg was quick to point out, “A large chunk of money went to advance Trump’s political prospects.”
The Washington Post‘s intrepid investigator, David Fahrenthold. didn’t wait to this nonsense, tweeting,
.@realDonaldTrump gave his Fdn $5.5M since 87 (but $0 btw '08 and '15). Others gave $9.3M. Read the full story: https://t.co/GyunBZDhGX https://t.co/CrrNQqcabO
— David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) December 27, 2016
He had this to say in response to Trump’s second tweet:
.@realDonaldTrump said post-election that Fdn violated law against selfdealing. But we are still waiting for details https://t.co/Z45vNvvZu2 https://t.co/GXlpVgND4T
— David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) December 27, 2016
The New York Times‘ Maggie Haberman made this same point, tweeting a helpful reminder that “Trump foundation admitted to violating ban on self-dealing, per IRS.”
Mark Berman, who has been working with Fahrenthold to investigate the Trump Foundation, couldn’t resist adding,
The Trump Foundation gave a quarter of a million dollars to settle lawsuits involving @realDonaldTrump's businesses https://t.co/DwED10cYC3 pic.twitter.com/hhLZmX8r1r
— Mark Berman (@markberman) December 27, 2016
Trump said Saturday he’ll shut down his foundation.
New York attorney general spokesperson Amy Spitalnick said no, no you won’t:
The Trump Foundation’s still under investigation by this office & cannot legally dissolve until that investigation is complete.
That had to hurt, but it was left to comedian Andy Borowitz to offer the most succinct description of what Trump’s decision means in real-world terms:
Why the sudden and obvious lies? Well, it’s Donald Trump isn’t it? And why now? As Joy Reid said, “obviously something set him off” and when that happens, it’s to Twitter he goes.
And it’s not like the people who follow his Twitter account read real news. Secure there from real world concerns, they’re free to indulge in Trump’s fantasy world.
Drain the swamp? Trump carries his swamp with him wherever he goes.
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