Trump misuse of charity funds leads to Holocaust museum payment

President Donald Trump said he would pay $1.8 million to several charities, including the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, after losing a civil court case over his misuse of his charity to get elected.

Trump made a statement about the payment on Thursday, after a New York judge ordered him to pay $2 million in damages for misusing funds from a tax-exempt charity — taking the charity’s money to pay debts for his for-profit businesses, to boost his 2016 campaign and to buy himself art, according to court documents.

That order, from state judge Saliann Scarpulla, settled a lawsuit filed against Trump last year by the New York attorney general, the Washington Post reported.

The lawsuit alleged “persistently illegal conduct” at the Donald J. Trump Foundation headed by the president.

As part of the settlement, Trump agreed to disburse the $1.8 million remaining in the foundation to a set of charities, and shutter it for good. In a statement signed by Trump’s attorney, the president admitted to poor oversight of the charity and to seven specific instances where its money was misspent.

In addition the Holocaust museum, the money will go to Children’s Aid Society and the United Negro College Fund.

Trump’s three eldest children — Ivanka, Donald Jr. and Eric — were also named in the original lawsuit, because they were board members at the Trump Foundation. The board did not meet for 19 years, from 1999 to 2018.

In a statement, New York Attorney General Letitia James called the settlement “a major victory.”