AG Schneiderman Begins Probe Into Trump Foundation
ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has launched an investigation into the Trump Foundation, so as to ensure it is complying with state charity laws.
WCBS 880 confirmed the probe with the Attorney General's office Tuesday night.
A source familiar with the situation said that Schneiderman decided to look into whether the Trump Foundation is complying with the charity laws in New York because of what has recently emerged, WCBS 880 reported.
Among the revelations are a donation to the Florida Attorney General, for which Trump paid a fine. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi was considering joining Schneiderman and going after Trump University, WCBS 880 reported.
There were also revelations in the Washington Post about the foundation's donations to charities that were not reported by those charities.
Schneiderman told CNN that he has had correspondence with the Trump Foundation, but he declined to elaborate. There was no information available on whether the investigations yielded anything concrete.
Schneiderman has previously gone after Trump University, alleging that it was unlicensed since it began operating in 2005 and promised lessons with real estate experts hand-picked by Trump, only one of whom had ever met him. The attorney general said the school used "bait-and-switch" tactics, inducing students to enroll in increasingly expensive seminars.
Schneiderman, a Democrat, sued Trump and the school, which changed its name to the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative before it closed in 2010, for $40 million. The lawsuit seeks restitution and damages for more than 5,000 students nationwide, including 600 New Yorkers, who paid up to $35,000 each.
Trump filed complaints with the state's ethics commission in 2013, four months after the lawsuit was filed, alleging Schneiderman pursued it to wring out campaign contributions from Trump's daughter Ivanka. The commission dropped the complaint after a review. Schneiderman denied it, and his campaign returned the $500 donation Ivanka Trump had made in 2012.
Trump has said he will testify on the lawsuit after the presidential election.
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