Trump to Shut Down Controversial Foundation

Donald Trump has announced that he plans to shut his charitable foundation, although an investigation into its practices continues.

The US president-elect said he wanted to avoid “even the appearance” of any conflict of interest.

New York’s attorney general is looking into suspected “impropriety” at the foundation, which Trump denies, BBC reported.

The attorney general’s office said Trump could not shut the foundation while the investigation was continuing.

Trump’s statement on Saturday said that “the foundation has done enormous good works over the years in contributing millions of dollars to countless worthy groups, including supporting veterans, law enforcement officers and children.”

“However, to avoid even the appearance of any conflict with my role as president, I have decided to continue to pursue my strong interest in philanthropy in other was,” he said.

Trump succeed President Barack Obama on January 20,

The Republican billionaire beat his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the November 8 elections.

New York’s Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in September that his office wanted to ensure the foundation was “complying with the laws that govern charities in New York”.

“We have been concerned that the Trump Foundation may have engaged in some impropriety from that point of view,” Schneiderman told CNN at the time.

US media say Schneiderman’s office has been investigating the Trump Foundation since at least June, when it formally questioned a donation made to a group backing Republican Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi in 2013.

The $25,000 payment was made at a time when Bondi’s office was reportedly considering whether to open a fraud investigation into Trump University. The fraud investigation never happened, although Bondi denies the decision was influenced by the donation she received.

Aides to Trump have already admitted the donation was a mistake resulting from clerical errors, according to reports.

The Donald J Trump Foundation is a private charitable organization started by Donald Trump in 1987 with money he earned from his best-selling book, The Art of the Deal.

Up until about 2005, the foundation was primarily funded by Trump himself, including a million-dollar contribution in 1989. Since then, however, it has been bankrolled almost exclusively by donations from Trump’s friends and associates.

According to its 2014 filing with the Internal Revenue Service (the most recent on record), the foundation claimed assets totaling $1,273,895 and brought in $500,849, almost entirely from a gift from New York ticket-reselling mogul Richard Ebers, a regular contributor. The foundation gave out $591,450.

Many of the contributions to Trump’s foundation appear to be in lieu of payments to Trump himself. People Magazine gave $150,000 after it received rights to publish photos of Trump’s son, Barron.

Comedy Central donated $400,000 after Trump appeared on one of its celebrity roasts.