Donald Trump announced this weekend that he plans to shutter his charitable foundation in an effort to rid himself of potential conflicts of interest, but he will likely face challenges in doing so. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman responded to Trump’s announcement by saying the foundation cannot dissolve because it is currently under investigation.
“The Trump Foundation is still under investigation by this office and cannot legally dissolve until that investigation is complete,” spokeswoman Amy Spitalnick told the Washington Post.
The attorney general’s office is investigating the foundation over reports that its spending benefitted the president-elect’s campaign, after the attorney general ordered the foundation to stop raising money. Trump’s foundation has also come under scrutiny for violating self-dealing rules in a 2015 IRS filing and for Trump’s lack of donations to the foundation recently.
Trump’s announcement that he would dissolve the charity was met with criticism from the Democratic National Committee, who called the move a “wilted fig leaf to cover up his remaining conflicts of interest and his pitiful record of charitable giving.”
“Shuttering a charity is no substitute for divesting from his for-profit business and putting the assets in a blind trust—the only way to guarantee separation between the Trump administration and the Trump business,” party spokesman Eric Walker said in a statement.