NY sues Trump Foundation for ‘illegal conduct’

New York's attorney general yesterday sued US President Donald Trump and his namesake foundation, saying the nonprofit should be dissolved after more than a decade of illegal conduct, including support for Trump's 2016 US presidential campaign.

Barbara Underwood, the attorney general, accused the Donald J. Trump Foundation and its directors of conducting "extensive unlawful political coordination" with the campaign, and "repeated and willful self-dealing" to benefit Trump's personal and business interests.

"The Trump Foundation was little more than a checkbook for payments from Mr. Trump or his businesses to nonprofits, regardless of their purpose of legality," Underwood said in a statement. "That is not how private foundations should function."

The foundation could not immediately be reached for comment.

Trump's children were also named as defendants in the attorney general's petition, filed with the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

New York is also seeking $2.8 million of restitution plus penalties, a 10-year ban on Trump serving as a director of a New York nonprofit, and one-year bans for his children Donald Jr, Eric and Ivanka.

The White House and the Trump Organization did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Trump has been president of the foundation since he founded it in 1987. In late 2016, he had promised to shut down the Trump Foundation — but could not while the attorney general's investigation continued.