President Donald Trump on Thursday agreed to fork over $2 million as a part of a settlement with the New York Attorney General's office for misusing money donated to his own charitable foundation.
In addition to paying $2 million, the president also had to admit that he misused foundation funds to fund his own presidential campaign, pay off his businesses' legal expenses, and to buy a $10,000 portrait of himself that wound up being displayed at one of his Florida hotels.
Philip Hackney, a former IRS lawyer who teaches tax law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, has gone over some more details of the settlement and has found that it places a surprising amount of restrictions on Trump in the future should he decide to open another charitable foundation in the future.
As the Washington Post reports, any future Trump charitable endeavors must include a majority of board members who have no relationship with the president and must regularly submit to audits.
Hackney tells the Post that these restrictions offer a damning comment on Trump's overall moral character.
"That’s a pretty significant statement about a lack of trust of the president’s capabilities,” he said. “It’s truly astounding.”
The Donald J. Trump Foundation formally shut down late last year under an agreement with the New York Attorney General's office.