Grifter Strikes Again

During the 2016 presidential campaign, a poll showed that between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, respondents believed Clinton was less honest than Trump. Believing in something doesn’t make it true. If I asked you to list lies told by Clinton, maybe you could name three. If you visit Politifact’s page listing false statements told by Clinton, you’ll find there are two pages. Wow! That’s a lot of false statements. If you visit their section listing false statements made by Donald Trump, you’ll find there are 13 pages. The Washington Post has counted over 13,000 lies told by Donald Trump just in the time that he’s been president.

Clinton’s haters used the Clinton Foundation, a charitable enterprise of the Clinton family, as evidence of her corruption. They cited donations made to it by foreign governments while she was Secretary of State. They can’t find any actual corruption, but Hillary booga, booga, booga.

Yet, the Clinton Foundation has never been cited for fraud by a court of law. It’s never been found as a slush fund or personal piggy bank for the Clinton family. It was never used as an arm of any political campaign. The facts don’t matter anyway to Trump supporters because they don’t really care about fraud, corruption, or abuse of a charity. They don’t even care if you use a charity to grift from veterans. They only pretend to care. Why do I say this? Because they don’t care that Donald Trump has done everything and more that they’ve accused Clinton of doing.

Donald Trump had (past tense people, and you’ll see why in a minute) a charity called the Trump Foundation. Trump likes to think of any money he has access to as his money. When his foundation actually donated to charitable causes, Trump would claim he made that donation even though it actually came from other people who donated to his charity. Now as president, he thinks taxpayer money is his to do with as he pleases too.

How much money did Trump personally contribute to the Trump Foundation? Since 2008, none. Trump solicited outside donations. Often, he would accept payment for appearances, like his Wrestlemania stint, by having it contributed to the foundation. That’s how you avoid payroll taxes. After it’s given to the foundation, nobody knows if it went to something charitable or to his wallet. There was really no accounting. The board of directors (which included three of his kids) did not conduct a meeting in over two decades. How much have the Clintons contributed to the charity that bears their name? Between 2001 and 2015, $23.2 million.

You may think that at least the money other people give to the Trump Foundation does go to charity. Uuuuuuuhhhhh…not always. Donald Trump has a history of using the foundation as a personal slush fund. He’s used money from it to purchase gifts for himself (as in paintings of himself and sports memorabilia), to pay off fines for his golf resorts, and to make campaign contributions (like to Pam Bondi in Florida). Washington Post reporter David Farenthold won a Pulitzer Prize detailing the corruption of the Trump Foundation.

Now, Donald Trump has been ordered by a New York state court to pay $2 million to charities for misusing his foundation for personal profit and political use. He also has to dissolve the Trump Foundation and to distribute the remaining $1.7 million to other charities that have no connection to Trump (that part’s important to make clear to him).

During the presidential campaign, Trump skipped a Republican debate and held a competing fundraising event. He claimed he was raising money for veterans. By the end of the evening, he claimed to have raised over $6 million for vets. As it turns out, even that was a lie.

Trump did raise $2.8 million but as it turns out, it wasn’t a charitable event. It was a campaign event. Some of the money did go to veterans. Where did the bulk of it go? Nobody knows. Did it go into the Trump campaign? Did it go into Trump’s pockets?

In case you’re new to this, it’s illegal for a charity to be used politically or to benefit the self-interest of its executives. In this situation, the Trump campaign was put in charge of spending for the Trump Foundation. Shocking.

This wasn’t a snafu. It wasn’t just some sloppy saccounting. It wasn’t an oops. This was deliberate and corrupt. This was Donald Trump using veterans and stealing from them.

The best part of this is that Donald Trump has admitted he used the charity politically and for personal use. He has also agreed that any charity he becomes involved with in the future will have a majority of independent directors, lawyers with expertise in nonprofit law and an accounting firm to monitor its grants and expenses. Additionally, his kids who were on the board, Donald Jr, Eric, and Ivanka, will undergo training in order to ensure they do not engage in similar improprieties. How bad is it that these adults have to take classes teaching them not to steal?

Though he admitted he used the campaign politically and as a personal slush fund, last night Trump tweeted that the suit was brought by “political hacks” and that he had given “100 percent of the funds to great charities” and had suffered “4 years of politically motivated harassment” by the attorney general’s office.  He also tweeted, “All they found was incredibly effective philanthropy and some small technical violations.” No, Donald. What they found was a lying crook who continues to lie after a settlement was reached. Putting other people’s shit into your pocket is not a “small technical violation.”

Trump also said this was one of the reasons he’s moving to Florida after he leaves the White House. Apparently, he believes Florida will allow him to be corrupt. He’s probably right.

Today, the Trump Campaign is paying the legal bills for him and his children over every suit involving his presidency. And all that money that went into his inauguration from private donors? We don’t know where it is or how it was spent. It went buh-bye.

Donald Trump is a liar, a crook, a grifter, a conman, and a thief. If you’re a Trump supporter, you either don’t know that or you don’t care. What’s most bizarre about not accepting the truth about Trump’s corruption is that the person he’s conning….is you.

Support the cartoonist.

You can help me continue to create cartoons, blogs, and videos by making a contribution. All support, large and small, is greatly appreciated. You can also support me by purchasing a signed print (8 1/2×11) for $40, or a signed poster (18×24) for $100 by clicking the PayPal button (just include a note if you’re purchasing a print). If you want to support but don’t want to use PayPal, you can send a contribution through the mail (address is on the contact page. Again, include a note for a print). I don’t plan on going anywhere and your support will help guarantee that. Whether you support, can’t. or just choose not to, please know that I am truly thankful that you visit my site and read my work.

You can purchase a signed print of this cartoon.

Watch me draw.