Trump pays $2 million in court-ordered damages for misusing charity funds: Official

US President Donald Trump reportedly paid $2 million in damages after a New York judge's order for misusing funds from his tax-exempt charity to finance his political campaign in 2016. The US President was sued by the New York Attorney General Letitia James for using funds from Donald J Trump Foundation, that got closed down in 2018, for personal benefit.

Trump was accused of using the charity fund for buying portraits of himself, paying off his businesses' legal obligations, and finance his 2016 campaign. The judge ruled that such charity foundations can not engage in politics ordering $2 million in damages. "I direct Mr Trump to pay the $2,000,000, which would have gone to the Foundation if it were still in existence," Judge Saliann Scarpulla wrote in the order.

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Trump was furious after the ruling and claimed that “every penny” went to charity. "I am the only person I know, perhaps the only person in history, who can give major money to charity ($19m), charge no expense, and be attacked by the political hacks in New York State," he tweeted. Calling New York “a corrupt state”, Trump had accused James of "deliberately mischaracterising this settlement for political purposes". 

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Vowed not to settle

When the lawsuit was filed in 2018, Trump had denied to settle and called the case “ridiculous”. "...Schneiderman, who ran the Clinton campaign in New York, never had the guts to bring this ridiculous case, which lingered in their office for almost 2 years. Now he resigned his office in disgrace, and his disciples brought it when we would not settle,” he had tweeted.

After the court ruling, the Attorney General, a Democrat, called it a victory saying no one is above law. “My office will continue to fight for accountability because no one is above the law—not a businessman, not a candidate for office, and not even the President of the United States,” she said in a statement.

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(With Inputs from Agencies)