New York AG denies Trump probe politically motivated

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Wednesday dismissed the notion that his office's investigation into the Donald J. Trump Foundation is politically motivated, discounting the optics of a Democrat and Hillary Clinton supporter digging into her opponent.

"If I’m a traffic cop, but I’m a Democrat, and he speeds by me, I have to give him a ticket. It’s that simple. Charities have to follow the rules," Schneiderman said on "CBS This Morning." POLITICO reported on Tuesday that his office opened an inquiry into the foundation "based on troubling transactions that have recently come to light."


Trump paid a $2,500 fine to the IRS for making a $25,000 political donation to the campaign of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi through the charitable foundation in 2013, as Bondi's office weighed whether to pursue a case against his real-estate seminar program, Trump University. (Tax-exempt charitable organizations are not allowed to make political donations). Bondi's office did not follow through, while Schneiderman's office filed a fraud lawsuit against the program. The Associated Press first reported in June that Bondi personally solicited the donation from Trump.

"You can’t say 'I gave money to a charity' and not give the money to a charity. It’s reported on forms filed with my office. You can’t give money to a political campaign from a charity," Schneiderman said. "I’m just following the rules like with any other charity. We never had a press conference. We never did any grandstanding. This is just me, doing my job."

The investigation's initial line of inquiry came from the Bondi contribution, Schneiderman said.

"Whistleblowers come forward to us all the time. We don’t credit everything we get. We should look into everything we get," he added. "The Pam Bondi contribution is what started it."

In reference to whether Trump used the foundation to pay for personal expenses, such as a portrait of himself (as reported by The Washington Post), Schneiderman said it "might be" against the law.

"Certain circumstances are self-dealing regulations. The IRS regulates at the federal level," Schneiderman continued. "They may very well be conducting their own inquiry ... if members of Congress have requested they do so. We enforce the New York laws on charity. We’re looking into it as we have an obligation to do."

Asked whether his office has scrutinized the Clinton Foundation in the same way, Schneiderman responded, "Absolutely."

"The issue that’s been raised there is why they haven’t been required to disclose donations from foreign governments. And the answer is very simply, the New York State Attorney General’s Office has never asked any non-profit to disclose contributions from foreign governments," Schneiderman said. "To single out the Clinton Foundation would be grossly unfair and say we’re changing the rules for this one foundation in the middle of the game."

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have called on U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to investigate the contribution to Bondi, arguing that it “may have influenced” her decision, which Bondi and the Trump campaign have both flatly denied.

“If they did, then a number of criminal statutes would appear to have been violated by this course of conduct, including those pertaining to bribery, perjury and deliberate failure to disclosure transfers to the IRS,” Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said at a news conference Wednesday morning.

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) ripped into Trump for claiming credit for donating $20 million to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which is based in his home district in Memphis.

“He didn’t give, they looked at it and they said he gave ten or $20,000 in his own name,” Cohen said, alluding to a separate Post report from August. “His son pledged $20 million from the foundation, but pledged. I presume he’ll come through. Eric seemed like a very nice guy, but they had done nada. You don’t use St. Jude Children Hospital to burnish your own bona fides, ‘cause St. Jude is too good an institution for somebody to do it, and that’s why I take particular umbrage and was glad to sign the letter and think that we need to pursuit it, the attorney general needs to pursue it.”