Trump agrees to dissolve personal foundation amid charges of misuse

NEW YORK: Trump was forced to shut down his personal charity, the Trump Foundation, and forfeit its remaining money, after the New York Attorney General said investigations found a “shocking pattern of illegality” in the Foundation, with the Trumps using it as a personal piggy bank.
Separately, a judge hearing a sentencing case against Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn virtually accused him of treason, saying ''Arguably you sold your country out.'' The observation came hours after Trump tweeted out his ''good luck'' to Flynn, a message some construed as ''witness tampering'' and ''supporting a felon.''
By noon, the Trump White House was also backing down on its threat of a government shutdown over border wall funding, with trump aides saying they were looking at alternate ways to get the $5 billion for the project.
But it was the observations from the Attorney General of New York (Trump’s home state) Barbara Underwood that were the most humiliating.
The Trump Foundation functioned ''as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr Trump’s business and political interests,'' she said, in concluding that the agreement to shut down the charity ''is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone.''
The case is not over with the dissolving of the Foundation. Underwood is continuing to seek more than $2.8 million in restitution and has asked a judge to ban the Trumps temporarily from serving on the boards of other New York nonprofit organizations.
The humiliation in the capital’s courtroom was more political. Federal Judge Emmet Sullivan reportedly asked in court if Michael Flynn's conduct ''rises to the level of treasonous activity?'' even after prosecutors had asked for no jail time because he had fully cooperated with the investigation into his affairs which included shilling for Turkey as an unregistered lobbyist even as he was poised to become the National Security Advisor.
Trump, who is himself often accused of treason, has continued to support Flynn -- even though the former NSA pleaded guilty, and on Tuesday declined the judge’s offer to rescind his plea.
The Flynn sentencing hearing is still going on at the time of writing. Trump also faces several other probes including how his inauguration committee raised and spent more than $ 100 million and how his transition committee interacted with foreign governments even before he took office.