During the
2016 presidential election campaign the foundation's activities came under intense media scrutiny, initially by the
Washington Post's David Fahrenthold, who went on to win the 2017
Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for his investigatory work. Investigations subsequently revealed various ethical and legal violations, including failure to register in
New York,
self-dealing, and illegal campaign contributions.
[5][6][7] In December 2016, Trump attempted to dissolve the foundation, but the office of the
New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman immediately blocked the dissolution pending completion of its then ongoing investigation.
[8]
On June 14, 2018, New York Attorney General
Barbara Underwood filed a civil lawsuit against the foundation as well as Trump himself and Trump's three adult children,
Ivanka,
Eric, and
Donald Jr., alleging "persistently illegal conduct" with respect to the foundation's money.
[9][10][11] She asked the court for an order dissolving the charity and imposing $2.8 million in restitution and penalties. She also made referrals to the
Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
[12] On June 18,
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's office announced that the governor would refer the civil case to
New York's Department of Taxation and Finance if it is requested to do so by the Attorney General's office.
[13] Given the violations alleged in the civil case, some experts believe a tax investigation could lead to state criminal charges filed against Trump.
[13][14] On December 18, 2018, Attorney General Underwood announced that the foundation had agreed to shut down under court supervision and distribute its remaining assets to court-approved charities, although she did not end investigations of the foundation and its directors.
[15]