Report: Trump Used Charity Money To Settle Lawsuits
COOPER: Tonight there is even more reporting on allegations surrounding the Trump Foundation. Namely that Donald Trump took money intend forward charity donations and used it to settle lawsuits against his own businesses. According to the "Washington Post" this happened to the tune of $258,000. The Trump Foundation was already under scrutiny because the allegation that Trump used the foundation to funnel other people's money not his own to other organizations. But this new report says he actually wrote checks from his charitable foundation to settle lawsuits from his for profit businesses. David Fahrenthold of the "Washington Post" broke the story, he joins me now. So of all things reported about the Trump Foundation, this is pretty surprising. I mean can you explain exactly what Donald Trump was using money from a foundation to pay off?</s>DAVID FAHRENTHOLD, WASHINGTON POST REPORTER: Sure. So the money in his foundation was given by other people to Donald Trump. It belongs in the charity. It can only be used to do charitable work. But instead we have these two cases where Trump's businesses, one a club in Florida, the other a golf course in New York they got in legal trouble and they made settlements to get out of that legal trouble as part of the settlements, the clubs, the businesses agreed to make donations to charity. What Trump did was then take out money out of this foundation and use that to pay off those obligations. So they neither is a -- his resort or his gold club had actually make any donations.</s>COOPER: And in my understanding in the case of I think it was Mar-a- Lago, the club in Florida. There were a bunch of -- was it fines, or liens or something that the local community, that he was supposed to pay but the local community agreed to get rid of those if he made this donation.</s>FAHRENTHOLD: That's right, Trump had put p a gigantic flag poll that was like 30 feet too tall for the town's code. And so after he fight -- with fought with the town for while, he build up $120,000 of unpaid fines for his club. So in the court settlement, the town said look, we're not going make you pay the $120,000, but you the club have to make this $100,000 donation to a particular veterans charity. And that's the chair -- the donation that Trump paid off with his foundation, the golf club didn't actually pay anything.</s>COOPER: And is that OK under the law? I mean is it ethical?</s>FAHRENTHOLD: The law says that there is a bar against something called self dealing. That is, if you are the head of a foundation you can't take the money out of the foundation and use to it buy things for yourself or things that benefit your businesses. So people I've talked to said this is a pretty clear case where Trump took the money out of his charity and did a thing that saved his own business money.</s>COOPER: So what might happen? I mean he did take up the -- if somebody looks at this, does he potentially pay a fine or?</s>FAHRENTHOLD: The penalties could include Trump may have to give the money back that the foundation paid on his behalf, like he have to reimburse the money to the foundation. He would also pay penalty taxes. He could pay penalty taxes for having filed a false IRS return because he told the IRS he had not engaged in acts of self dealing. He could even have his charity's non profit status taken away.</s>COOPER: The New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has open investigation in his foundation. Do we know if he's going to be looking at these specific transactions or is he looking stuff in New York?</s>FAHRENTHOLD: Well, since the Trump Foundation is head quartered in New York all of these attractions are under his purview. And I think he will be looking at these transactions.</s>COOPER: Is there any kind of timeline do we know for this investigation? I mean is there any chance that it will be done before the election? Because obviously Trump's supporters say look, this is politically motivated.</s>FAHRENTHOLD: I don't have a time, I talk to them yesterday and didn't get a comment from them. I imagine they find a work on a fast but I don't know if they'll before election.</s>COOPER: Last time you were on the program you are trying to track down a 6-foot tall painting of Donald Trump that he bought with foundation funds, and I understand he bought a second portrait of himself using money from the foundation. I saw just a little while, you tweeted out a picture apparently of that portrait from trip advisor, is that right?</s>FAHRENTHOLD: That's right. Trump bought this painting with $10,000 with the charity money in 2014. And since the charity bought it, it has to be use for charity purposes. It can just hang on the wall in Donald Trump's club. Yet it is hanging on the wall in Donald Trump's club apparently, trip advisor a user at Trump's dural golf resort outside Miami took that picture where apparently the tore (ph) bought was charity money is hanging.</s>COOPE: David Fahrenthold, thanks very much. Appreciate having you on again.</s>FAHRENTHOLD: Thank you.</s>COOPER: Up next, the American white working class, they are the core of Donald Trump's support. But what is driving their decision to support him over Hillary Clinton? Some answers, next