Megan Tompkins-Stange: Why New York is suing the Trump Foundation

Absolutely this is a pretty big deal for
a foundation to be

using my that's supposed to be going
towards charitable purposes and

which is tax advantaged meaning that
organizations not have to be any taxes on

its assets for
that to be going towards personal and

especially to be going towards trying to
influence the outcome of an election or

otherwise shape public opinion in favor of
a candidate and this is what was happening

in the trunk foundation where the computer
stuff was running the lack of P.T.

and the money was not going towards trial
purposes it was boring for itself dealing

as well as for its over at least political
behavior which is not allowed for American

private foundations to engage and thought
as to on the family on the foundation

denied that the anything that wrong what
was being done all has been done but

this is a landmark case anyway isn't it
unprecedented that a trust like as big

a foundation is being officially censured
in this way absolutely the restrictions

on Foundation engagement and political
activity have been active in 1969 but

since that time no foundation has ever
been officially censure in this way redish

and are very private organizations and
there's very few meaningful accountability

many innocents for them to be helped to
in terms of what they can and cannot do

you know there's no tether of the vote for
$0.20 public opinion as one of the real

only ways to keep them accountable for
their engagement in the public sphere and

it's interesting to see in this
case that the foundation is being.

Faced the penalties that actually
have real teeth including closing

the foundation altogether and barring some
of its former members from being involved

a nonprofit organizations in the future so
this is a really raising example

of crossing the line in an area
where excessively foundations go to

great lengths to avoid crossing that legal
line in terms of what they can I cannot

if presumably all this is proven what
do you think is most likely to happen.

My guess will be that they will be guilty.

Of engaging in a political behavior and
I think it may present a watershed moment

for the phone public sector there's
then quite a soft chilling effect since

the 1969 restrictions that we have at
the lobbying electioneering or influencing

legislation but by and large it's been
mostly self regulated that's rubbish and

stopping themselves from engaging in that
behavior as opposed to being a formally

censure My guess is that it will be
more attention to this in future

from official channels it's really marks
on the part you're for the nonprofit

sector in the United States is typically
much more free and unaccountable.