Trump reportedly used charity money to settle legal claims – as it happened

• Donald Trump used $258,000 from his charitable foundation for legal settlements involving his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and a New York golf course, the Washington Post reported today. In 2007, Trump used his foundation’s money when his Palm Beach, Florida, club was fined $120,000 by the town for having a flagpole that was almost twice the height allowed under local rules. As part of a settlement, Trump donated $125,000 to veterans’ charities from the Trump Foundation, the paper reported. The foundation’s money comes mainly from other donors, not Trump himself.
• The Post reported that in 2010, a golfer sued when he was denied a $1m prize for a hole-in-one in a charity tournament at Trump’s course outside New York City. A $158,000 settlement also came from Trump’s foundation. Two weeks ago the Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold cast in doubt Trump’s philanthropy and raised questions about purchases he had made, apparently for himself, using money earmarked for charity. Now Fahrenthold has uncovered what may be, if there is no unforeseen explanation here (the Trump camp has yet to comment), the biggest abuse yet by Trump of tax laws and the trust of donors to his foundation.
• The charity scandal will likely come up at the upcoming presidential debate, just six days away. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will meet on Long Island for the first presidential debate with the topic of “securing America” firmly at the top of their agenda. Moderator and NBC anchor Lester Holt has suggested this and two other topics – “America’s direction” and “achieving prosperity” – could still be “subject to possible changes because of news developments”, but the reaction of both candidates to the violent events of recent days suggests next Monday’s night’s theme is already well chosen.
• Independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin has linked Brexit and the rise of Trump, telling the Guardian that such events are a “reflection of a nativist movement across Europe and in the United States” that is “destructive to [the] economy here and in the world and to peace and security”. The 40-year-old former CIA agent and Capitol Hill policy adviser accused Russia of fueling such sentiments – a phenomenon he said he understood because when working for the US intelligence service he “received the same training that Vladimir Putin did” while in the KGB. “They do it through supporting candidates like Donald Trump and Donald Trump poses a true threat to our national security by carrying Putin’s water in the United States,” he said.
  
• Trump started another when he proclaimed at a North Carolina rally that “our African-American communities are in the worst shape they’ve ever been ... Ever. Ever. Ever.” The statement, which was immediately lambasted on social media for failing to consider the long history of slavery and racial discrimination against African Americans, marked the latest misstep by the Trump campaign as the Republican nominee has struggled to harness the terrorist attacks in New York and New Jersey for his political advantage.

Former secretary of state and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign has filed its September Federal Election Commission report for the month of August, revealing that the nominee raised more than $62m in August for her campaign, as well as roughly $78m for allied action funds for state Democratic parties, from more than 1.1 million contributions, with an average contribution of $50.

The campaign begins the month of September with more than $68m in the bank.

“The millions of Americans who have contributed to this campaign and to the Democratic Party have ensured that we head into the final 50 days of the election with the most robust organizing effort in history, and the resources we need to mobilize the millions of voters we need to elect progressive candidates up and down the ballot,” campaign manager Robby Mook said in a statement.

“With voting already underway in some parts of the country, the race will continue to tighten and we will need to fight for every vote and do everything we can to make sure our message cuts through and that Democrats turn out to vote.”

More than 60% of the campaign’s August contributions were from women, and roughly $17m were raised from contributions lower than $200.

The Clinton campaign has raised more than $412m over the course of the campaign, and begins the month with more than $10m cash on hand than it began August.

On the heels of reports that former Republican president George HW Bush told Kathleen Kennedy Townsend – the former lieutenant governor of Maryland and daughter of Robert F Kennedy – that he plans to vote for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, CNN is reporting that the former president told board members of the bipartisan Points of Light Foundation that he will, indeed, vote for his former opponent’s spouse:

Bush told a room of roughly 40 people Monday that he would vote for Hillary Clinton in November, according to sources close to Bush - an extraordinary rebuke of his own party’s nominee.

Although the Bush family has neither confirmed nor denied the claims of either CNN or Townsend, a family spokesman was pretty coy about the former president’s plans on 8 November.

“The vote President Bush will cast as a private citizen in some 50 days will be just that: a private vote cast in some 50 days,” Bush spokesman Jim McGrath said in a statement. “He is not commenting on the presidential race in the interim.”

The Donald Trump campaign has elected to lengthen the amount of time Americans spend talking about Skittle-related racial metaphors that were once used by Nazi war criminals, releasing a statement this afternoon calling Donald Trump Jr. a “tremendous asset to the campaign.”

Don Jr. ignited a firestorm of criticism last night when he tweeted a meme comparing Syrian refugees to poisoned Skittles, but as has become customary with the Trump campaign, the Republican nominee’s communications team has elected to double down on the statement.

“Don Jr. has been a tremendous asset to the campaign,” wrote communications advisor Jason Miller in a statement. “America has become less safe under Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and Clinton’s planned 550% increase in Syrian refugees is a dangerous proposal that will put American lives at risk. Speaking the truth might upset those who would rather be politically correct than safe, but the American people want a change, and only Donald Trump will do what’s needed to protect us.”

The same sentiment expressed by Trump was once used in a bid to keep Jewish refugees from entering the United Kingdom. In 1903, Conservative MP Major Sir William Eden Evans-Gordon used a very similar metaphor in an address to Parliament:

Ten grains of arsenic in a thousand loaves would be unnoticeable and perfectly harmless but the same amount put into one loaf would kill the whole family that partook of it.

Reporters accompanying Trump asked him questions as he made his way to lunch but he did not answer them, according to a poll report.

Jill Colvin of The Associated Press asked him, “Mr. Trump, when did you change your mind about the birther issue? When did you decide that President Obama was actually born in the United States?”

He did not respond.

Donald Trump has been ducking most interview requests from media outlets apart from Fox News, CNN notes. What’s more, he has not held a press conference in almost two months:

Newt Gingrich knocked Clinton at a Trump rally on Monday afternoon by saying “she doesn’t do press conferences.” But Clinton has taken questions from reporters at half a dozen press conferences in the past two weeks, including as recently as Monday morning.

These sessions, while relatively short, have been plentiful, while Trump has not held a press conference since July.

Donald Trump running mate Mike Pence tells NBC News that he doesn’t see why everyone is so worked up about Donald Trump Jr comparing refugees to Skittles:

It’s remarkable to me to see the level of outrage about a metaphor used by Don Jr when Hillary Clinton’s calling for a 550% increase in the Syrian refugee program.

Politifact has rated the 550% claim “mostly true”:

Clinton has, in fact, said that in response to the refugee crisis she would raise Obama’s limit of 10,000 to 65,000. That’s 550 percent more, a bit higher than what Trump said.

Pence’s really earning his dinner, isn’t he?

The Wall Street Journal has transcribed radio segments Donald Trump used to do in the mid-2000s – “between 2004 and 2008, [Trump] recorded a daily 60-second commentary that was aired on several hundred radio stations across the U.S,” apparently.

We hadn’t read these before, but they’re bouncing anew around the Internet, with the news of a certain high-profile celebrity breakup.

Here’s some of Trump’s commentary:

Thursday, March 31, 2005 — Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie was just named the sexiest woman in the world. This was from the readers of FHM, a men’s magazine. Angelina took over the crown from Britney Spears who didn’t even make the sexy list this year. She has gone down, there’s no question about it. That’s what a marriage can do for you. (Archived page)

Friday, April 7, 2006 — Sexiest Woman Alive

Every once in awhile, some magazine will name the sexiest man or the sexiest woman alive.

Now readers of FHM – a men’s magazine — have crowned Scarlett Johansson the sexiest woman alive. The lovely 21-year-old actress – who I met recently on a Jay Leno show – posed semi-nude for the cover of Vanity Fair magazine not too long ago.

Some of the others on the list…Angelina Jolie is No. 2 (I don’t get it), Jessica Alba, Jessica Simpson, Keira Knightley (she’s unbelievable), Halle Berry, Jenny McCarthy, Maria Sharapova (truly unbelievable), Carmen Electra and and Teri Hatcher. Last year Scarlett was No. 9 on the list and Angelina was No. 1.

I know almost all of the people on the list. I know who’s really beautiful and who’s not. Some of them belong and some don’t, but I’m not going to get myself in trouble. (Archived page)

(h/t: @willrahn)

Here’s another poll to add to the confusing mix in Florida. Monmouth University has Clinton ahead of Trump 46-41 in a four-way race, with Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson at 6%. But that lead for Clinton is down from 9 points last month in the poll.

This is an interesting poll finding, on Trump’s ‘birther’ bile:

Most Florida voters (75%) have heard about Trump’s recent admission that Barack Obama was born in the United States, but they doubt the GOP nominee’s sincerity. Only 24% think that Trump actually believes Obama is a natural born citizen, while the majority (54%) say Trump only made the statement for political reasons.

The poll also depicts a tight senate race:

Here’s a transcript of Hillary Clinton’s remarks on top of her conversation today with national security advisers, via the campaign:

Thank you all for joining. Events of the past few days have underscored that to defeat the terrorists we need experienced, steady leadership. Calm, not panic. Resolve, not fear.

I’ve been with many of you in the Situation Room advising on operations to prevent terrorist attacks and bring terrorists to justice. Many have never been in the news.

We know what it takes. We can’t lose our cool and start ranting and waving our arms. We shouldn’t toss around extreme proposals that won’t be effective and lose sight of who we are. That’s what the terrorists are aiming for.

We need to respond the way of brave law enforcement and citizen heroes responded They showed strength and steel and smarts. They saved lives and brought the terrorist attacker to justice.

And we need to respond with a real strategy. I’ve laid out a strategy to protect our communities and our country and to defeat ISIS and other terrorist groups. An intelligence surge. New efforts to disrupt recruiting online. Smashing the terrorists’ strongholds in the Middle East. Dismantling their global networks, stemming the flow of foreign fighters and making sure they can’t bring terrorism back home with them.

Today I want to talk to you all about what we’ve learned from these most recent attacks and how we can make our approach even more effective.

With fewer than 50 days until the election, the Democratic nominee is taking a day off the campaign trail to talk strategy with advisers and to prep for the upcoming debate, her campaign said.

Hillary Clinton held a call with her national security and counterterrorism advisors to discuss the recent attacks in New York and across the country, according to the campaign.

She called into the Steve Harvey Show, where she discussed her mindset heading into the first debate and talked about the death of Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man, shot and killed by police in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

“We have got to tackle systemic racism,” Clinton said. “This horrible shooting again. How many times do we have to see this in our country?”

Trump hit Clinton on Twitter for not holding a rally:

Clinton is scheduled to campaign in Orlando, Florida, later this week, and her travel is expected to pick up post-debate.

The independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin has linked Brexit and the rise of Donald Trump, saying such events are a “reflection of a nativist movement across Europe and in the United States” that is “destructive to [the] economy here and in the world and to peace and security”, writes Guardian politics reporter Ben Jacobs:

The 40-year-old former CIA agent and Capitol Hill policy adviser accused Russia of fueling such sentiments – a phenomenon he said he understood because when working for the US intelligence service he “received the same training that Vladimir Putin did” while in the KGB.

“They do it through supporting candidates like Donald Trump and Donald Trumpposes a true threat to our national security by carrying Putin’s water in the United States,” he said.

McMullin is running as an independent conservative alternative to Trump, backed by some of the Republican nominee’s most determined rightwing opponents. Speaking to the Guardian, he discussed his longshot bid for the White House and his disdain for those on the right who have failed to stand up to Trump, who is now closing in on Hillary Clinton in presidential polling.

In McMullin’s view, the forces that drove the British vote to leave the European Union and have aided the rise of Trump are part of the “same movement, fueled largely by the Russians who seek to destabilize eastern and western Europe as well as North America through fomenting discord between different racial groups, different ethnic groups and different religious groups”.

McMullin, who spent a decade at the CIA, will make a foreign policy speech in Washington on Tuesday focusing on the global threats to US national security.

Read the full piece here:

Clinton spokesman Ian Sams argues that the revelation of egregious self-dealing by Trump, it appears, through his foundation heightens suspicions that his tax returns may be a lightning-streaked viper’s nest of hidden income, equity swaps, shell companies and who knows what else:

Here’s a new bombshell report from the Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold, whose bombshell report of 10 days ago, How Donald Trump retooled his charity to spend other people’s money, revealed how Trump has found a way to enjoy all the benefits of philanthropy – Donald, you’re a saint! – with none of the bite of having to actually, like, give away one’s money.

Now Fahrenthold has uncovered what may be, if there’s not some magical unforeseen explanation here (the Trump camp has yet to comment), the biggest abuse yet by Trump of tax laws and the trust of donors to his foundation.

“Trump spent more than a quarter-million dollars from his charitable foundation to settle lawsuits that involved the billionaire’s for-profit businesses, according to interviews and a review of legal documents,” Fahrenthold reports:

Those cases, which together used $258,000 from Trump’s charity, were among four newly documented expenditures in which Trump may have violated laws against “self-dealing” — which prohibit nonprofit leaders from using charity money to benefit themselves or their businesses.

What’s the legal hazard here for Trump? Fahrenthold:

If the Internal Revenue Service were to find that Trump violated self-dealing rules, the agency could require him to pay penalty taxes or to reimburse the foundation for all the money it spent on his behalf. Trump is also facing scrutiny from the office of the New York attorney general, which is examining whether the foundation broke state charity laws. ...

More broadly, these cases also provide new evidence that Trump ran his charity in a way that may have violated U.S. tax law and gone against the moral conventions of philanthropy.

“I represent 700 nonprofits a year, and I’ve never encountered anything so brazen,” said Jeffrey Tenenbaum, who advises charities at the Venable law firm in Washington. After The Post described the details of these Trump Foundation gifts, Tenenbaum described them as “really shocking.”

Read the full piece here.

Obama says “a quarter century after the end of the Cold War, the world is by many measures less violent and more prosperous than ever before, and yet our societies are filled with unease...

I believe at this moment we all face a choice... to press forward with a better model of cooperation... or retreat into a world sharply divided... I want to suggest to you today that we must go forward and not backward.

Obama says that open markets, human rights and global ties are “the firmest foundation of human progress in this century.”

What Donald Trump Jr is tweeting here would very comfortably appear in the feeds of the white nationalist accounts he approvingly retweets:

The Breitbart story, a tourist’s out-of-nowhere description of a made-up gang-rape epidemic in Europe, is not only openly, wildly racist, describing a continental crisis of white European women under assault from “Middle Eastern-looking men” – the racist Breitbart piece is also breathtakingly unhinged from reality:

In England, it’s been rape after rape – tens of thousands of young British girls are brutalised, tortured, beaten and raped by organised gangs comprised almost exclusively of Muslims

Here’s DJT Jr a week ago:

If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, they say, it’s a duck.

South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, a Republican, has tweeted that in the interest of giving “everyone” “an additional boost,” she “wanted to share” that she started her day with a song that happens to have been the anthem that the Hillary Clinton campaign used to give everyone an additional boost through all of the spring, until people’s ears started to bleed.

It’s Rachel Platten’s Fight Song:

Haley, a popular governor for whom some Republicans see a bright national future, endorsed Marco Rubio in the Republican primaries and has said she will support the Republican nominee, but she has not expressed support for Trump specifically and she has criticized his rhetoric, a favor he returned with, of course, a Twitter insult: