Mike Davis

@byMikeDavis

The Donald J. Trump Foundation skirted IRS rules and illegally donated money to a campaign, despite the foundation's namesake not donating a cent in more than eight years, according to reports published last week.

According to the Washington Post, the Trump Foundation -- founded by Trump in 1987 -- "defies the convention that wealthy people start private foundations to give their wealth away."

Instead, the foundation has "allowed Trump to retain the appearance of generosity without giving away a dime of his own money," according to the Post.

"We typically think that philanthropy has to involve your own money or time. There should be an element of sacrifice," Indiana University philanthropy professor Leslie Lenkowsky told the Asbury Park Press in May. "Obviously, there's not a lot of that going on."

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In one case, Trump himself acted as a middleman for the Palm Beach Police Foundation. Identifying himself as a fundraiser for the Florida group, he petitioned the Princeton-based Charles Evans Foundation for a donation.

Trump was later lauded by the Palm Beach Police Foundation for donating $150,000 from 2009 to 2010, though all of those funds came from the Charles Evans Foundation.

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The Post found various examples of the Trump Foundation breaking IRS rules, including:

Using foundation money to purchase a $20,000 painting of Trump at a charity auction and a $12,000 football helmet autographed by Tim Tebow

Donating $25,000 to a campaign group affiliated with Florida Attorney General Pamela Bondi, a speaker at the 2016 Republican National Convention, while her office was considering a fraud investigation into Trump University.

Reporting charitable donations to groups that told the Post they never received a donation.

In May, the Asbury Park Press revealed that Gov. Chris Christie -- a close Trump ally and chairman of his transition team -- and his wife, Mary Pat, outgave Trump by a 12-to-1 margin, despite a $4 million net worth that's less than 0.1 percent of Trump's $4.5 billion net worth.

Since 2009, the Christies have donated more than $145,000 to charity.

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The Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund, spearheaded by Mrs. Christie, doled out more than $38 million between 2012 and March 2016, when the foundation was dissolved, according to tax documents.

During the same time period, the Trump Foundation donated about $3.2 million to various charity groups.

Mike Davis: 732-643-4223; mdavis@gannettnj.com