TO BE FAIR, NO ONE TAKES THE FOUNDATION SERIOUSLY ANYWAY:

The Trump Foundation, Donald Trump's nonprofit organization, is under fire for allegedly operating as more of a political slush fund than a charity. The foundation is accused of violating rules prohibiting it from engaging in politics--prompting ethics watchdogs to call for public investigations.

On numerous occasions this year, Trump's campaign work and his foundation work have overlapped--putting himself at risk for penalties and his charity at risk of being shut down.

It's the latest example of Trump courting controversy: not merely through inflammatory rhetoric, but also through private dealings that raise serious legal questions--all of which indicate how he might govern if elected president of the United States. [...]

[I]n key early primary states this year, Trump handed out Foundation checks to charities at campaign rallies. This also calls into question "whether the foundation provided the campaign with an illegal in-kind contribution by providing services for what was a campaign event. Under the campaign finance laws... providing anything of value to a campaign for free or at less than fair market value is a contribution to the campaign," said Larry Noble, the general counsel at the Campaign Legal Center.

And in 2013, the Trump Foundation donated $25,000 to a political organization supporting Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi--an action the foundation is prohibited from taking, and which it failed to report on its disclosures.

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