Trump 'bought painting of himself for $60k using his own charity cash, then kept it'
Donald Trump used a fake bidder to buy a portrait of himself for $60,000 using his own charity’s cash, Michael Cohen’s testimony has revealed.
During his explosive testimony to the House oversight committee, Mr Cohen said that the President had instructed him to find a ‘straw bidder’ to buy the portrait of him that was being auctioned at an event.
He said Mr Trump then told the Trump Foundation – a charitable organisation – to repay the fake bidder the $60,000 that had been spent on the painting, despite keeping the piece of art himself.
There’s always a tweet: Cohen’s testimony edition pic.twitter.com/71evsrzSEj
— Dusty Giebel (@DustinGiebel) February 27, 2019
Cohen told the committee: “Mr Trump directed me to find a straw bidder to purchase a portrait of him that was being auctioned at an Art Hamptons Event.
“The objective was to ensure that his portrait, which was going to be auctioned last, would go for the highest price of any portrait that afternoon.
MORE: Summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un ends suddenly – with no deal being reached
MORE: Former Coronation Street director thought online chat with ’13-year-old’ was role-play with an adult
“The portrait was purchased by the fake bidder for $60,000.
“Mr Trump directed the Trump Foundation, which is supposed to be a charitable organization, to repay the fake bidder.”
At the time, Donald Trump tweeted about the purchase, but said he had “just found out” about it.
He wrote: “Just found out that at a charity auction of celebrity portraits in E. Hampton, my portrait by artist William Quigley topped list at $60k.”
