"Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood today announced a lawsuit against the Donald J. Trump Foundation, and its directors, Donald J. Trump ("Mr. Trump"), Donald J. Trump, Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump," the release said.
Barbara Underwood said the foundation had engaged in "extensive unlawful political coordination" with Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
"The petition filed today alleges a pattern of persistent illegal conduct, occurring over more than a decade, that includes extensive unlawful political coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing transactions to benefit Mr. Trump's personal and business interests, and violations of basic legal obligations for non-profit foundations," the release stated.
The release said Underwood has sent referral letters to the Internal Revenue Service and Federal Election Commission with information on possible violations of federal laws that they may want to investigate and take legal action over.
Donald Trump has posted his remarks about the case on Twitter.
The sleazy New York Democrats, and their now disgraced (and run out of town) A.G. Eric Schneiderman, are doing everything they can to sue me on a foundation that took in $18,800,000 and gave out to charity more money than it took in, $19,200,000. I won’t settle this case!…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 14 июня 2018 г.
….Schneiderman, who ran the Clinton campaign in New York, never had the guts to bring this ridiculous case, which lingered in their office for almost 2 years. Now he resigned his office in disgrace, and his disciples brought it when we would not settle.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 14 июня 2018 г.
Underwood seeks to ban Trump from serving as the head of a non-profit organization in New York for ten years and ban his children from doing the same for a period of one year, the release added.
Underwood's predecessor, Eric Schneiderman, filed more than 100 lawsuits against Trump and his administration prior to resigning over a sex scandal in May, according to published reports.
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The release also said that Underwood's investigation found that the Trump Foundation had raised more than $2.8 million in a "manner designed to influence the 2016 presidential election at the direction and under the control of the senior leadership of the Trump presidential campaign."
The investigation found that the board of the Trump Foundation existed in name only and did not approve any expenditures or activities. All decisions were made by Trump himself, the release added.
US Deputy Attorney General Briefs Trump on Inspector General Findings
Rosenstein has arrived at the White House to provide details of the report on FBI Director James Comey's investigation to Trump ahead of its release to the general public, NBC News reported citing an administration official.
READ MORE: FBI, Justice Dept. ‘Should Have Told' About Probe Against Manafort — Trump
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz is expected to unveil the report at 2:00 p.m. EDT, but Bloomberg has obtained a copy and revealed that Comey did not act out of political bias, yet he deviated from the agency’s procedures in the Clinton probe.
In May, at Trump's request, the inspector general broadened its investigation of the FBI's role in the 2016 presidential election to examine the agency's use of informants in the Trump campaign.
