President Trump on Thursday vowed he would not settle a new lawsuit alleging his personal charity engaged in illegal activity over the past decade, including unlawful coordination with his 2016 presidential campaign.
In a series of tweets, Trump took aim at former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who resigned last month after being accused of physically abusing women. Schneiderman’s successor, Barbara Underwood, brought the case against Trump on Thursday.
“The sleazy New York Democrats, and their now disgraced (and run out of town) A.G. Eric Schneiderman, are doing everything they can to sue me on a foundation that took in $18,800,000 and gave out to charity more money than it took in, $19,200,000,” Trump wrote. “I won’t settle this case!”
The president also vowed he would not settle a class action fraud suit against the now-defunct Trump University. He eventually agreed last year to a $25 million settlement.
Trump argued the New York attorney general’s office is biased against him, falsely claiming Schneiderman “ran the Clinton campaign in New York.” The former top law enforcement officer endorsed Clinton in 2016 but did not work on her campaign.
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The president said Schneiderman “never had the guts to bring this ridiculous case, which lingered in their office for almost 2 years.”
“Now he resigned his office in disgrace, and his disciples brought it when we would not settle,” he wrote.
The lawsuit is the latest legal headache for Trump, who is under scrutiny in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s efforts to tip the 2016 election in his favor, as well as a criminal probe into his longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.
Underwood’s lawsuit names Trump and his three eldest children and accuses them of “a pattern of persistent illegal conduct” by misusing the nonprofit foundation’s funds to pay off legal bills, business debts and other expenses at Trump properties.
The suit also accuses the charity of illegally assisting Trump’s presidential campaign by raising money at a nationally televised fundraiser that the former business mogul staged instead of participating in a GOP primary debate.
Underwood is seeking to dissolve the foundation and claw back $2.8 million in restitution.
–Updated 11:42 a.m.