US judge in Trump Foundation case rebuffs political bias defense

A New York judge said on Thursday that she would not entertain arguments that political bias was at the heart of a case alleging the president unlawfully used his charity to help his 2016 campaign and to benefit his businesses.

“I don’t want to get involved with that,” New York Supreme Court Justice Saliann Scarpulla said at a hearing that focused on a motion submitted by President Donald Trump’s lawyers in August asking the judge to dismiss the case on the grounds the lawsuit was politically motivated and arguing Trump and his children did not break any laws.

Reporting by Nathan Layne in New York; Editing by Michael Perry and Tom Brown