David A. Farenthold in the Washington Post reports that president-elect Donald Trump’s charitable foundation has finally admitted to the IRS that it “violated a legal prohibition against ‘self-dealing.’” The Post also alleges that Trump used money donated to the tax-exempt Donald J. Trump Foundation to settle several lawsuits and to purchase art and memorabilia at charity auctions.
During the presidential campaign, the Post reported on several instances where Trump appears to have used non-profit Trump Foundation money to help himself and his for-profit businesses. To these now documented instances can be added three occasions in which the Trump Foundation may have purchased art and memorabilia for Trump’s home or businesses.
According to a 2015 tax filing submitted to the nonprofit watchdog group Guidestar and posted online Tuesday, the Trump Foundation acknowledged that it paid $12,000 in 2012 for a football helmet signed by then-Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow; $20,000 for a six-foot portrait of Trump by “speed painter” Michael Israel; and another $10,000 for a second portrait of The Donald by by artist Havi Schanz.
Earlier this month, when speculation swirled as to the location of Israel’s Trump portrait, the artist posted an image of the painting on his website. In a subsequent blog post, Israel congratulated Trump on the purchase but chided him for his alleged self-dealing:
“In the event, you did hang the painting in your home. 1. WOW! Thanks for the compliment! I have more for sale. If you kept it for yourself, you need to put $20K back in the foundation.”
In the same recent filing, the Trump Foundation reported a $150,000 gift from billionaire collector Viktor Pinchuk’s foundation. The Ukrainian steel magnate also donated to the Clinton Foundation. During the presidential race Hillary Clinton faced substantial scrutiny about potential conflicts of interest connected to donors to her family foundation.