A
New
York
state judge rejected US President Donald
Trump's request to dismiss a
lawsuit
in which
NewYork's attorney general accused him of misusing
his
namesake foundation to advance
his
2016 presidential campaign and
his
businesses.
The decision issued Friday by Justice Saliann Scarpulla of the state supreme court in Manhattan is a rebuke to the Republican president, whose lawyer had accused Attorney General Barbara Underwood, a Democrat, of "pervasive bias" for suing.
Scarpulla said the US Constitution did not immunize
Trump
from the
lawsuit, and Underwood could pursue claims alleging breach of fiduciary duty, improper self-dealing, and misuse of assets belonging to the Donald J.
Trump
Foundation.
Underwood sued
Trump
and
his
adult children Donald Jr, Eric and Ivanka on June 14, after a 21-month probe that she said uncovered "extensive unlawful political coordination" between the foundation and
Trump's campaign.
The White House was not immediately available for comment. Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for the defendants, said the decision meant only that the case would go forward.
"As we have maintained throughout, all of the money raised by the Foundation went to charitable causes to assist those most in need. As a result, we remain confident in the ultimate outcome of these proceedings," Futerfas said in an email.
The
lawsuit
alleged, among other things, that
Trump
wrongly ceded control to
his
campaign of about $2.8 million donated to the foundation in a 2016 Iowa fundraiser for military veterans.
Other challenged expenses included $100,000 to settle a dispute involving
Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, and $10,000 for a portrait of
Trumpthat was later hung at one of
his
golf clubs.
In her 27-page decision, Scarpulla called
New
York's
lawsuit
"replete" with allegations that foundation funds were misused, including atTrump's direction.
She also said the state sufficiently alleged that
Trump's actions were willful and intentional, citing allegations that he and
his
campaign arranged for the foundation to cut checks, helping generate "vote-getting publicity that Mr.
Trump
would have otherwise paid for himself."
The defendants have been trying to dissolve the foundation, and for this
reason Scarpulla refused to issue an injunction barring theTrumps from running it.
Underwood welcomed Scarpulla's decision.
"The
Trump
Foundation functioned as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr.
Trump's business and political interests," Underwood said in a statement. "There are rules that govern private foundations - and we intend
to enforce them."
New
York's
lawsuit
sought to dissolve the foundation, recoup $2.8 million and ban the
Trumps from leadership roles at charities.
Trump
faces many investigations, and many
lawsuits by Democratic-led or Democratic-leaning states including
New
York.
He has used Twitter to call Underwood's
lawsuit
a concoction by "sleazy
New
York
Democrats," and pledged not to settle.
The case is
New
York
v
Trump
et al,
New
York
State Supreme Court,
New
York
County, No. 451130/2018.