One of the many perversities of the Trump era is the low bar to which presidential accountability has now become set. We are currently watching unfold the saga of presidential bribery and extortion of a foreign power in order to sabotage a domestic opponent, and to pursue an outrageous conspiracy theory designed to exonerate a hostile foreign power to which that president remains shockingly solicitous. Taken together with the Mueller probe (and it’s all of a piece), it’s the greatest presidential scandal in American history.
But it should still leave us speechless that only a few days ago the President of the United States was held liable by judge of defrauding veterans to the tune of millions of dollars via a fake charity he used for vainglorious personal and campaign expenses. To recap:
So it has come to pass with a New York judge’s ruling Thursday that the president had misused money given to the Donald J. Trump Foundation and, as part of a settlement, will have to pay $2 million in damages. Not only did he use the money for himself, including the purchase of a 6-foot-tall portrait of None Other, but he also filled the board of directors with family members (the usual suspects: Ivanka, Donald Jr. and Eric) and at least one officer, Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, who didn’t know he was even on the board, according to court documents.
A New York judge on Thursday ordered President Trump 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 a painting of himself, according to court documents.
