11, December 2019
US: Trump pays $2 mn in damages to charities after court ruling 0
Donald Trump on Tuesday paid $2 million in damages as part of a settlement over use of his former charity to further his political and business interests — the latest item on the US president’s list of legal woes.
Trump had been accused of using foundation funds to settle lawsuits, promote his Trump-branded hotels, and for personal spending, including the purchase of a portrait of himself to display at one of his golf clubs.
The $2 million was paid equally to eight different charities, including the Children’s Aid Society, the United Negro College Fund and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, according to a statement from New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat.
“Charities are not a means to an end, which is why these damages speak to the president’s abuse of power and represent a victory for not-for-profits that follow the law,” she said in the statement.
The payments were made the same day that Democrats in Congress unveiled two articles of impeachment against Trump, a momentous step asserting that he abused his office and deserved to be removed.
James filed the lawsuit against the Trump Foundation in June last year, accusing it of “persistently illegal conduct” that included improper coordination between the charity and his campaign team during his 2016 White House bid.
Trump agreed to shut down his personal charity in 2018, but the suit moved ahead regardless, as prosecutors sought millions of dollars in restitution and penalties.
The suit also said that in early 2016 while Trump was running for president, he organized what was billed as a Trump Foundation fundraiser but was actually a campaign event.
Trump had pushed back against the lawsuit, defending his organization’s work and lauding its financial responsibility.
“It has been 4 years of politically motivated harassment,” he said in a statement after the court ruling. “All they found was incredibly effective philanthropy and some small technical violations, such as not keeping board minutes.”
Trump faces ongoing legal troubles on multiple fronts. Courts have ordered that two banks must hand over to Congress documents related to the president’s finances, and he is fighting an attempt by a New York prosecutor to compel the release of eight years’ worth of tax returns, among other battles.
Source: AFP
11, December 2019
Bomb explodes at gate of largest US base in Afghanistan 0
A bomb explosion near the largest US military base in Afghanistan has left at least five injured, officials say.
The attack which took place on Wednesday near the entrance to Bagram Airfield has also damaged a hospital that was under construction.
“The explosion happened in front of the gate of the Korean hospital which is almost adjacent to Bagram airfield,” said Wahida Shahkar, spokeswoman for the governor of Parwan province.
“So far five injured civilians have been transferred to the hospital,” Shahkar said, adding that all five wounded in the attack were Afghans.
“A 30-minute clash also happened between the attackers, who obviously wanted to enter the base, and foreign forces,” she said.
There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast so far.
NATO’s mission said in a statement that there were no US or coalition casualties and “the attack was quickly contained and repelled.”
However, a future medical facility being built for locals was badly damaged, the statement added.
Wednesday’s attack comes as the United States has resumed talks with the Talibanmilitant group, three months after President Donald Trump abruptly halted negotiations aimed at ending America’s longest war.
Washington resumed talks with the Taliban in Qatar’s capital Doha on Saturday.
Trump ended yearlong talks with the Taliban in September, when an agreement appeared imminent that could end America’s longest war.
The US invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 and overthrew a Taliban regime in power at the time, vowing to bring stability to the war-ravaged nation.
However, US forces have remained bogged down there through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now Donald Trump.
More than 14,000 US troops remain in Afghanistan and Trump has repeatedly expressed his frustration with their continued deployment.
On Monday, a confidential trove of US government documents made public by The Washington Post revealed that American officials have “constantly lied to” the US public about what has been going on in the now 18-year war on Afghanistan.
Source: Presstv