The state’s ethics commission is dropping Donald Trump’s complaint against New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in connection to an investigation of the presidential hopeful’s for-profit online school.
The 2013 complaint accused Schneiderman of misconduct by soliciting campaign donations from Trump’s daughter Ivanka while his office was investigating the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative, formerly known as Trump University.
The AG sued Trump that year for $40 million, alleging the school violated consumer protection law and engaged in fraud, according to the Associated Press. The lawsuit is still pending.
But the Joint Commission on Public Ethics has dropped the mogul’s complaint against Schneiderman – a decision which Trump attorney Alan Garten called “a joke” on Monday, adding that Trump is considering an appeal.
Schneiderman’s campaign compliance director recently wrote a letter to Ivanka Trump stating that the campaign was not keeping a $500 donation check she wrote in late 2012, which became the basis of the complaint.
The letter noted that Ivanka Trump had indicated that neither she nor any entity she owned or controlled had any matters pending with attorney general’s office, which was later contradicted by an affidavit filed in connection with her father’s complaint.
Mayor Bill de Blasio recently said Donald Trump’s presidential campaign “is literally trying to undermine fundamental constitutional rights” with its platform on immigration. [AP] – Rey Mashayekhi