Donald Trump’s charitable foundation is under investigation by the New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, his office said on CNN Tuesday.
The inquiry was opened in light of the “troubling transactions that have recently come to light,” according to Politico.
“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 told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
The Trump foundation has been the subject of several recent damaging reports, including a Washington Post story on Saturday which showed that the Republican presidential nominee had not donated to the foundation since 2008 and revealed some questionable spending practices.
“We’ve inquired into it and we’ve had correspondence with them,” Schneiderman said. “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.”
According to the Washington Post, “Trump spent $20,000 of money earmarked for charitable purposes to buy a six-foot-tall painting of himself.” In five other cases, the Post found that the Trump Foundation claimed to have given a gift to charities whose leaders say they never received anything.
Earlier this month, the Washington Post also reported that Trump paid a $2,500 fine to the IRS for making a political donation through the foundation to a group affiliated with Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s reelection campaign in 2013.
At the time of the donation, Bondi’s office was weighing whether or not to join Schneiderman in a probe of fraud allegations against Trump University. No investigation ever materialized.