By Aaron Miller-
A U.S judge has ordered Donald Trump to pay a $2m (£1.6m) fine for misusing funds from his charity to finance his 2016 political campaign.
The fine comes amid a legal suit lodged by the then attorney general in New York last year alleging Trump and his three eldest children – Don Jr, Ivanka and Eric had broken campaign finance laws in 2016 by using the Donald J Trump Foundation’s tax-exempt status “as little more than a check book to serve Mr Trump’s business and political interests”.
Trump seems to be under a sustained attack by the establishment over which he presides, as he is engaged in battles left right and centre. Only this week, a disclosure order by a judge for him to declare his tax returns was met with the fierce opposition of an appeal to the Supreme Court. With all this pending, an impeachment hearing is gathering pace as his enemies stretch their resources to mount as much evidence against him.
The Donald J. Trump Foundation closed last December after prosecutors accused the charity of being “little more than a chequebook to serve Mr Trump’s business and political interests”, The Guardian reports.
The then New York State attorney-general, Barbara Underwood, said the investigation had uncovered “a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation – including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and wilful self-dealing, and much more”.
On Thursday, Justice Saliann Scarpulla ordered the Trump family to pay $2m to a group of not-for-profit organisations as part of a settlement with the New York state attorney general’s office after “persistent” violations of charities law.
The judge also ruled that Trump “breached his fiduciary duty” with a purported foundation fundraiser in January 2016, ahead of the Iowa caucuses in the Republican party primary, that was in fact a campaign event
A court also heard that Trump allowed funds collected for US veterans to be spent on his presidential campaign in the state of Iowa. The fine adds to the U.S president’s troubles which includes an impeachment inquiry.