The biographer of Trump Nation explains what the dissolution of the Trump Foundation reveals about how "remarkably craven the president has been" in the facets of his life.
Tim O'Brien joined MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell on "The Last Word" on Tuesday, following the Trump family agreeing to dissolve the foundation. The agreement came in legal proceedings with New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood.
“Our petition detailed 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," Underwood explained. "This amounted to the Trump Foundation functioning as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump’s business and political interests."
“This is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone. We’ll continue to move our suit forward to ensure that the Trump Foundation and its directors are held to account for their clear and repeated violations of state and federal law," Underwood added.
O'Brien, the Trump biographer and MSNBC analyst, explained how he viewed the latest developments in the Trump Foundation scandals.
"You know, this was never, I think, really a charity," he suggested. "You mentioned earlier in the program that Trump betrayed the mission of the charity, but I actually don't think he set this up with charitable intentions."
"I think he saw it as something that could be a vehicle for financial machinations, and the lawsuit makes it clear that it was," he added.
"I think the foundation is one facet of the universe of Trump operations that now have drawn the attention of law enforcement officials," he explained. "You know, the Trump Organization, the Trump family, the Trump inauguration, the Trump transition, the Trump White House, the Trump Foundation are all being investigated for various shades of wrongdoing."
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