New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has opened an investigation into the Donald J. Trump Foundation “to make sure it’s complying with the laws governing charities in New York," he said Tuesday, according to Politico.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed Schneiderman’s remark, telling the website the New York Attorney General’s office “has opened an inquiry into the Trump Foundation based on troubling transactions that have recently come to light.”
Schneiderman, who for months has tangled with Trump over a fraud lawsuit his office filed against Trump University, the Manhattan billionaire’s real estate seminar program, told CNN on Tuesday that the GOP nominee’s charitable foundation is also under scrutiny.
“My interest in this issue really is in my capacity as regulator of non-profits in New York state. And we have been concerned that the Trump Foundation may have engaged in some impropriety from that point of view,” Schneiderman was quoted as having said.
“And we’ve inquired into it and we’ve had correspondence with them. I didn’t make a big deal out of it or hold a press conference. We have been looking into the Trump Foundation to make sure it's complying with the laws governing charities in New York,” he added.
Trump’s charity has face growing questions in the wake of a damaging series of stories by the Washington Post and the Associated Press.
A Washington Post story published over the weekend cited tax records showing that Trump had not donated to his own foundation since 2008, and had among other allegations had "spent $20,000 of money earmarked for charitable purposes to buy a six-foot-tall painting of himself.
The foundation also made an illegal donation to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi in 2013 as she was considering joining Schneiderman in pursuing a fraud case against Trump University, according to Politico.
Bondi and Trump have denied any connection between the donation and her office's decision not to pursue an investigation, though Trump paid a $2,500 penalty to the IRS for making a political donation through his charitable foundation.
While Schneiderman, a Democrat who supports Hillary Clinton, has said that his suit against Trump University is not politically motivated, the New York attorney general has not shied away from publicly discussing the case, noted Politico.
In a June interview Schneiderman said the real estate seminar was "really a fraud from beginning to end" and "just a scam." He indicated that if elected, Trump could be called in to testify as president or president-elect.
Trump, for his part, has attacked Schneiderman as a “hack” and a “lightweight” and has also said Schneiderman "is trying to extort me with a civil law suit."
Spokespeople for the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the inquiry.