Dec 18, 2018

Trump Foundation to dissolve after lawsuit with New York attorney general

Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images.

The Trump Foundation has agreed to dissolve in compliance with a lawsuit from New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood, which alleged that the charity was being used for President Trump's personal and political gain.

The big picture: While the closing of the charity is a victory for the AG's office, the broader lawsuit against the foundation, which seeks $2.8 million in restitution and penalties as well as a ban on Trump's children from serving on the board of other New York charities, will continue.

Details:

The dissolution of the foundation comes after The Washington Post reported that its funds were being used to pay off legal settlements for Trump's private businesses, including purchasing art from one of his clubs and making an illegal political donation.
Underwood said the investigation found “a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation — including unlawful coordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and willful self-dealing, and much more."
What's next: The foundation’s remaining $1.75 million will be distributed to other charities approved by Underwood's office and a state judge.

Flashback: Following his 2016 election win, Trump said he would dissolve the foundation to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest. But the attorney general’s office had stated that doing so would require the state's approval, given its investigation.

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Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

The novel coronavirus has now infected over 142,000 people in the U.S. — more than any other country in the world, per Johns Hopkins data.

The big picture: COVID-19 had killed over 2,400 people in the U.S. by Sunday night. That's far fewer than in Italy, where over 10,000 people have died — accounting for a third of the global death toll. The number of people who've recovered from the virus in the U.S. exceeded 2,600 Sunday evening.

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Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 9 p.m. ET: 721,584 — Total deaths: 33,958 — Total recoveries: 149,122.
U.S.: Leads the world in cases. Total confirmed cases as of 9 p.m. ET: 142,106 — Total deaths: 2,479 — Total recoveries: 2,686.
Federal government latest: President Trump says his administration will extend its "15 Days to Slow the Spread" guidelines until April 30.
Public health updates: Fauci says 100,000 to 200,000 Americans could die from virus.
State updates: Louisiana governor says state is on track to exceed ventilator capacity by end of this week — Cuomo says Trump's mandatory quarantine comments "panicked" some people into fleeing New York
World updates: Italy on Sunday reports 756 new deaths, bringing its total 10,779. Spain reports almost 840 dead, another new daily record that bring its total to over 6,500.
What should I do? Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — Q&A: Minimizing your coronavirus risk
Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it.

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World coronavirus updates: Cases surge past 720,000

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's Health Ministry. Note: China numbers are for the mainland only and U.S. numbers include repatriated citizens and confirmed plus presumptive cases from the CDC

There are now more than 720,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus around the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins. The virus has now killed more than 33,000 people — with Italy alone reporting over 10,000 deaths.

The big picture: Governments around the world have stepped up public health and economic measures to stop the spread of the virus and soften the financial impact. In the U.S., now the site of the largest outbreak in the world, President Trump said Sunday that his administration will extend its "15 Days to Slow the Spread" guidelines until April 30.

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