New York AG Launches Investigation Into Trump Foundation

New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said Tuesday he has opened an investigation into the Donald J. Trump Foundation "to make sure it's complying with the laws governing charities in New York."

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By Yancey Roy

New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said Tuesday he has opened an investigation into the Donald J. Trump Foundation "to make sure it's complying with the laws governing charities in New York."

"We've inquired into it," Schneiderman said in an interview on CNN. "We've had correspondence with them. I didn't make a big deal out of it or hold a press conference. But we have been looking into the Trump foundation to make sure it's complying with the laws governing charities in New York."

This is the second major legal action taken by the Democratic state attorney general against the Republican presidential candidate.

Back in 2013, before Trump began his campaign, Schneiderman led a fraud lawsuit against Trump University, alleging the real estate seminars ripped off students who paid tens of thousands of dollars to enroll. The attorney general has called "Trump U." a "scheme to fleece thousands" of people.

About the foundation inquiry. Schneiderman said, "My interest in this issue really is in my capacity as regulator of nonprofits in New York State, and we have been concerned that the Trump foundation may have engaged in some impropriety from that point of view."

"Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is a partisan hack who has turned a blind eye to the Clinton Foundation for years and has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president," Trump spokesman Jason Miller said in an email. "This is nothing more than another left-wing hit job designed to distract from Crooked Hillary Clinton's disastrous week."

The inquiry brings more scrutiny to the Trump foundation. Earlier this week, The Washington Post published a story saying Trump hadn't donated to it since 2008 and that one of its expenditures was a 6-foot painting of the candidate himself.

(c)2016 Newsday

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Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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