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Eric Trump Stops Fundraising for his Charity After Scrutiny

by Associated Press

   PALM BEACH, FLA. --

   One of President-elect Donald Trump's sons will stop directly raising
   money for his namesake foundation, saying he worries the donations
   could be perceived as buying access to his father.
   Eric Trump said Wednesday that it pained him to cease soliciting
   donations for his organization, which he says has raised more than $15
   million for children terminally ill with cancer. The foundation came
   under scrutiny recently after posting an online auction for coffee with
   his sister Ivanka.
   "Fighting childhood cancer is a cause that has been central to my life
   since I was 21 years old,'' Eric Trump told the Associated Press. "It's
   an extremely sad day when doing the right thing isn't the right thing.
   That said, raising awareness for the cause will be a lifelong mission
   for me.''
   Trump, the younger of the president-elect's two adult sons, has raised
   enough money over the last decade to fund a new intensive care unit at
   St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, which
   provides free medical care for children. But criticism mounted after an
   invitation offered a hunting trip with Eric or his brother Donald Jr.
   in exchange for donations of $500,000 or $1 million to a new charity
   that Eric Trump supports.
   Both the coffee and hunting ventures have been scuttled.
   The focus on the Eric Trump Foundation comes after Donald Trump
   relentlessly criticized his Democratic opponent for the White House,
   Hillary Clinton, for allegedly providing favors to donors to the
   Clinton Foundation while she was secretary of State. She has denied
   those allegations.
   News of Eric Trump's decision was first reported Wednesday by The New
   York Times.
   Eric Trump said he will likely wind down the Eric Trump Foundation --
   which had just one employee -- but plans to continue public advocacy
   against childhood cancer. About $5 million of a $20 million, 10-year
   commitment to St. Jude's remains outstanding, money that likely will be
   raised by donations from patrons at Trump-owned hotels and golf
   courses.
   Don Jr. and Eric Trump, who were among the Republican businessman's
   closest campaign advisers and have played an active role in the
   transition, are planning to remain in New York to run the massive Trump
   Organization once their father takes office. Critics have demanded the
   president-elect divest himself from his business. He was to have
   addressed the future of the company at a press conference last week,
   but it has been postponed to January.
   The future also remains murky for the Donald J. Trump Foundation, a
   separate charity run by the president-elect that solicited outside
   gifts and has been criticized for using donations to fund business
   interests.