That Would Explain It

In all that David Cay Johnston has unearthed during thirty or so years of reporting on Trump, one major thread is lawsuits. Trump always settled them, but with court records always sealed.

Now David Fahrenthold's reporting sheds light on a few of Trump's settlements. Farenthold found four suits settled—to the tune of $258,000—using money donated to Trump's "charitable" foundation.

Sure, this is the crafty businessman who once cashed a check for $.13 free money.

These foundation expenditures would seem to violate IRS rules against "self-dealing" by charities... And has Trump in any of his manifestations ever engaged in another kind of "dealing"? Certainly, to settle lawsuits with someone else's money fits the business practices Johnston and others have reported for decades.

Fahrenthold also found some small-change expenditures that were unconnected to legal settlements—

In 2013, Trump used $5,000 from the foundation to buy advertisements touting his chain of hotels in programs for three events organized by a D.C. preservation group. And in 2014, Trump spent $10,000 of the foundation's money for a portrait of himself bought at a charity fundraiser.

Or, rather, another portrait of himself.

Several years earlier, Trump had used $20,000 from the Trump Foundation to buy a different, six foot-tall portrait.

Scott Lemieux notes—

In conclusion, some donors once emailed Huma Abedin asking for favors and didn't get them, so Both Sides Do It but Clinton Is Worse.