Jason Noble

jnoble2@dmreg.com

A longtime aide to the Trump family defended Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s record of charitable giving on Wednesday, arguing some money given to Trump’s foundation by third parties "is his money."

Lynne Patton, a senior assistant to three of Trump’s adult children and the vice president of son Eric Trump’s charitable foundation, told The Des Moines Register that some donations to the Donald J. Trump Foundation should be recognized as contributions from Trump himself because in some cases that money would have been paid to Trump directly.

“A lot of times Mr. Trump will give a speech somewhere or he’ll raise money in some way and he asks that that entity, instead of cutting a personal check to him, cut it to his charity,” Patton said. “That’s money that otherwise would’ve been in his personal account, right?”

“So when he cuts a check from his foundation for let’s say, St. Jude, it is his money,” she added. “No ifs, ands or ways about it.”

Patton was in Iowa on Wednesday for a “Women for Trump” campaign event in suburban Des Moines, appearing with Eric Trump’s wife, Lara Trump, campaign adviser Tana Goertz, and Iowa Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds to provide personal testimonials on Trump’s character.

Patton did not provide a specific example of a third-party payment that would have gone to Trump directly but was instead directed to the foundation. But she provided a hypothetical: a corporation paying Trump an honorarium for a speech, and Trump directing that payment to his foundation rather than his personal bank account.

“There are corporations that hire him to give public speeches all the time,” she said. “Sometimes, he says ‘Hey, I’d rather you cut a check to my charity instead of cutting it to me.’ ”

When that happens, she said, it’s the equivalent of Trump making the charitable gift himself.

“That’s his money going into his foundation,” Patton said. “Just because the check doesn’t say 'Donald and Melania Trump, TD Bank or Chase Manhattan (Bank)' doesn’t mean it’s not their money.”

Trump has undergone scrutiny in recent months over the nature of his charitable giving. The Washington Post has reported that the billionaire businessman has given less than $10,000 of his own money to charity since 2008 and hasn't contributed to his own charity over that same period.

Patton dismissed The Post's reporting by David Fahrenthold, saying, "This is a disgruntled reporter who’s stretching the truth."

The foundation repeatedly broke IRS rules, The Post found, and paid a $2,500 penalty for an inappropriate donation to a political organization. This week, it was revealed that Trump settled private lawsuits using foundation funds contributed by third-party donors.

Patton’s explanation for how Trump can take credit for others’ contributions to his charity is more expansive than recent comments from Trump organization or campaign staffers. As recently as this month, Trump aides have put his personal charitable giving in the “tens of millions,” but offered no further explanation.