Trump’s Foundation may be crumbling

A CRUMBLING FOUNDATION: New York’s attorney general has ordered DONALD TRUMP’s foundation to stop raising money in his home state because it’s not properly registered to do so.

The “Notice of Violation” from New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman instructs the Trump Foundation to stop soliciting contributions or engaging in any fundraising activity in New York immediately. Besides the practical impact, the violation is a public relations blow to Trump, whose foundation has come under intense scrutiny during his presidential bid.


As POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein reports, the foundation has become a major political headache for Trump, following reports it sent an illegal $25,000 donation to a Florida political group and spent funds on unusual items, like portraits of Trump. The notice says the Trump Foundation has 15 days to file the appropriate paperwork under state law.

A Trump spokeswoman expressed concern that Schneiderman, a Democrat, may be pressing the issue for partisan reasons.

Happy Monday and, for some, Happy New Year. Here’s your 2016 Blast. Henry C. Jackson (@henrycjjackson) is here to guide you through today’s campaign news, so please send your tips, complaints and good tidings to: [email protected]

2) BIG SWINGS: After the first presidential debate, fresh polling data suggest HILLARY CLINTON is carving out significant leads in some of the states likeliest to decide the election, but DONALD TRUMP is solidifying his standing in Ohio. Clinton leads Trump in a a new Quinnipiac University poll of Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, but trails Trump in Ohio. Clinton’s margin in Florida (5 percentage points) is as large as Trump’s in Ohio. The poll shows a tight race in Pennsylvania, a state that has traditionally favored Democrats but where Trump has hoped to upset the electoral college calculus. In North Carolina, Clinton leads by 3 percentage points in Quinnipiac’s polling, though another Bloomberg Politics poll of the state released today shows an even tighter, 1 percentage point race. During Quinnipiac polls taken last month, Clinton and Trump were tied in Florida, while Clinton led in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Trump had a more narrow edge in Ohio last month.

BLAST NOTE: Meanwhile, in Colorado and Virginia , two states where Clinton has generally led in, new polls show she she continues to outpace Trump.

3) GENIUS BAR(B): Here’s how HILLARY CLINTON seems set to use DONALD TRUMP’s tax history against him — by relentlessly mocking him and the “ genius ” talking point rolled out by his surrogates. “Clinton on Monday ridiculed Donald Trump, whose allies have touted the Republican presidential nominee’s ‘genius’ for using a nearly $1 billion loss to avoid paying personal income taxes for nearly two decade. ‘Y’all see the debate last Monday?’ Clinton asked supporters during a rally in Toledo, Ohio ... ‘Here’s my question, what kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year?’”

BLAST NOTE: Besides this line of attack, the thing that stands out to The Blast is Clinton’s use of “y’all.”

4) IT’S CONWAY TO MAKE A LIVING: DONALD TRUMP’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, is doing quite well for herself this election cycle, POLITICO’s Kenneth P. Vogel and Jake Sherman report . But her big payout, which has mixed work for Trump and for super PACs, also seems to undermine Trump’s message: “As Conway’s profile has soared during the 2016 campaign, her small Washington-based polling firm has collected nearly $1.9 million and counting in fees from federally registered political campaign committees — more than twice as much as in any prior election … Yet her firm’s work for Trump’s presidential campaign and a supportive super PAC that had previously backed TED CRUZ’s rival campaign for the GOP nomination has raised eyebrows among Republicans who have worked with the veteran pollster.”

5) A PROXY NIGHT: Tuesday night, there’ll be a big ol’ vice presidential debate. For logistics, you can find everything you need to know here . (Including how to stream, format, etc.) But before all of that, some interesting reports on our participants. Check out this piece on how MIKE PENCE has largely given up “negative” campaigning — a decision he says came after a moral awakening — and how, once upon a time, Pence “sounded a lot like Donald Trump.” And this piece on how TIM KAINE once used his White House connections to help student loan giant Sallie Mae, a “home state” employer based in Reston, Va.

TRAIL MIX: In today’s campaign news, HILLARY CLINTON needs Pennsylvania, Michael Chertoff is #WithHer, and TIM KAINE banks on his likability. Newt Gingrich wants a new approach, Democrats are ready to make DONALD TRUMP work for them, and Sean Spicer deletes a tweet. GARY JOHNSON gets deep scrutiny, and analyzing Saturday’s "SNL" debate.

SAY WHAT?: DONALD TRUMP appeared to suggest that veterans who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are not tough enough.

STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA: The Los Angeles Times checks in on HILLARY CLINTON’s “firewall” in Pennsylvania and finds optimistic Democrats in the state’s biggest city.

CHERT’S OFF: Former George W. Bush Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says he’s voting for HILLARY CLINTON.

LIKEABLE ENOUGH: ABC goes behind TIM KAINE’s debate prep, finds him prepared to emphasize his “likability.”

NEWT APPROACH: Newt Gingrich says DONALD TRUMP can only win now if he modulates his approach before Election Day. (The New York Times)

TRUMP TAILS: Democrats are now compiling clips and dossiers of Republicans who offer supportive words to DONALD TRUMP in the hopes that they can use them against them later.

BRUTAL: In a long look at GARY JOHNSON’s time as governor of New Mexico, The Washington Post concludes that before his “Aleppo” gaffe, he showed little appetite for the details of governing.

TOO MUCH SPICE(ER): Senior RNC official Sean Spicer tweeted a story touting a “Willie Horton-style” ad about TIM KAINE, then deleted the tweet.

TRUMPED: Time argues that Saturday Night Live went after HILLARY CLINTON far harder than DONALD TRUMP.

HOW DO YOU REALLY FEEL: Headline in a Charles Blow New York Times column : “Donald Trump: Terroristic Man-Toddler.”

THEY SAID IT: “"Not only did he seem at the debate to lose his temper, but to get up at 3:30 a.m. and reach for your smartphone is to me a hysterical reaction. If you're president, the button you reach for is not the Twitter button; it's the nuclear button.” — Michael Chertoff, former Secretary of Homeland Security under George W. Bush, on DONALD TRUMP.

MAGIC NUMBER: 6. That’s HILLARY CLINTON’s national lead in a new Morning Consult/POLITICO poll. Where things stand before the VP debate.

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There you go — now you’re caught up on the 2016 race. TBNR. We’ll see you Tuesday.