Rivalry week was off and running on Friday with a slate of games with deep meaning on conference championships, the College Football Playoff and, of course, bragging rights.

The toughest loss came for Central Florida, which lost its all-everything quarterback, McKenzie Milton, to injury in the second quarter of a 38-10 win against South Florida. Unbeaten through November for the second year in a row, the Bulls will need to rally behind backup quarterback Darriel Mack Jr. in next week’s AAC title game against Memphis. Mack had a hard time as a thrower against the Bulls, hitting on just 5 of 14 attempts, but he added 51 rushing yards on 10 carries.

The day’s action is the appetizer for the weekend’s main course. Tomorrow’s schedule includes Michigan at Ohio State, the Iron Bowl, Notre Dame at Southern California and much more. Before those games, here are the winners and losers from Friday:

Winners

Iowa

The Hawkeyes handed rival Nebraska another loss in the series, sneaking past the Cornhuskers 31-28 on a last-second field goal. It’s the eighth win of the season for Iowa, which is far better than even that record might indicate, and the eighth loss for Nebraska, which is also a far better team than the losing finish suggests. The Hawkeyes owned the line of scrimmage, especially in the second half, and continued to be the more physical team in this rivalry. But the Cornhuskers are coming fast, looking ahead to a promising second season under coach Scott Frost and young quarterback Adrian Martinez.

Texas

The Longhorns will move to the Big 12 championship game after a 24-17 win against Kansas. It was the sort of ugly performance that belies a bigger idea: Texas is going to play for a conference title and New Year’s Six bowl berth in Tom Herman’s second season, which illustrates the team’s substantial growth since his arrival from Houston as the program’s latest savior.

MAC front-runners

It was a good day for the best teams in the Mid-American Conference. Buffalo continued one of the best seasons in program history with a 44-14 win at Bowling Green, moving the Bulls to 10-2 heading into next week’s conference championship game. Eastern Michigan will return to postseason play after a 28-20 win at Kent State. Ohio’s offense continued to roll in a 49-28 win at home against Akron, which has seen a once-promising season derail in the second half. And Toledo will go a satisfactory 7-5 in the regular season after crushing Central Michigan, 51-13, to drop the Chippewas to 1-11.

Losers

Virginia

It’s fair to ask if Virginia will ever beat rival Virginia Tech again, after a heartbreaking 34-31 loss in overtime extended the Cavaliers’ losing streak in the series to 15 games. The last win? That came on Nov. 29, 2003, meaning a child born into the Virginia fan base on that day is beginning to consider where he or she is going to college — Virginia Tech is a good choice for winning football. There are two painful parts to Friday’s loss: one, that the Cavaliers had this one in control late in the fourth quarter, and two, that this Virginia Tech team is so young, inexperienced and crippled by injuries that it will almost certainly improve heading into 2019.

Houston

The Cougars began November in the mix for a New Year’s Six bowl and may end the month in third place in the AAC West Division, should SMU beat Tulsa to end the regular season. Injuries certainly played a role: Ed Oliver wasn’t the same for much of the last few weeks, while standout quarterback D’Eriq King missed the finale after hurting his knee a week ago. Like most teams, the Cougars had slim room for error down the stretch.

Arkansas

In a way, the Razorbacks are winners for the sole fact that this miserable season is over — 10 losses and just two wins after it began. It’s been an ugly first go for former SMU coach Chad Morris, who inherited a program on the downswing but was not projected to oversee a team that would go winless in SEC play. The finale was a fitting conclusion: Missouri skunked Arkansas in a 38-0 laugher.

South Florida

USF was a paper tiger at 7-0, a record built on the back of one meaningless win after another, but despite the flimsy resume few could’ve predicted what would come next: five losses in a row, many ugly, and the last that 28-point loss to UCF. Just one year ago, the Bulls entered this finale needing a win to reach the conference title game and potentially make a New Year’s Six bowl. Second-year coach Charlie Strong’s job may be secure, but that doesn’t mean changes aren’t in the offing for USF as it limps into the postseason.

 

Image: facebook

With the popularity of the Amazon Echo Show and the Google Lenovo Smart Display, Facebook decided to launch their own video calling system with the Facebook Portal, which is now on sale for $149.99 — a $30 savings — at Best Buy for Black Friday.

Normally retailing for $199.99, the all-new Facebook smart display features a smart camera that can track and follow your movements without moving or shifting the display unit itself. You can now move around your home without worrying if the person on the other end can see you or not. 

SEE ALSO: All the best Black Friday 2018 sales, right in one place

Since the Portal is from Facebook, the device seamlessly integrates with your friends and family on the social network for video calling and messaging. The Facebook Portal even works with the Amazon Alexa, so now you have the best of Facebook and Amazon in one sleek and futuristic touchscreen display. 

If you’re worried about your privacy, this smart display is designed to keep your personal information completely private. Facebook says they don’t listen to your conversations, the company can’t view you or your content during video calls, and all calls are encrypted, so video sessions are strictly between you and the person you’re talking to on the other end. 

Moreover, you can simply cover up the unit’s camera and microphone when not in use for additional peace of mind.

Need a second opinion? Best Buy customer John writes:

“I’ve watched many reviews on this product. The following camera seemed a bit gimmicky when I was watching reviews, but using it in real life, it is a game changer. I do not need to worry about positioning the camera to make the other person can see me. I can cook, clean, play with my dog while being on camera with my friends and family. Call quality is best as long as the other person is on WiFi.”

 

Black Friday 2018 deals by store

• Amazon: Shop sales on Fire tablets, Echo Spot, and more

• Walmart: Shop sales on Xbox One S, Instant Pot, Nintendo Switch

• Macy’s: Shop sales on Vitamix, Dyson, Instant Pot, Roomba

• Target: Shop sales on iPhone XS, Apple Watch, 23andMe, TVs, and more

• Best Buy: Shop sales on QLED TVs, Microsoft laptops, Nintendo, and more

Black Friday 2018 deals by category

• Gaming deals: Xbox One X, PlayStation 4, Nintendo, Alienware laptops, and more

• Laptop deals: Lenovo Yoga, Alienware, Dell, HP, Asus, and more

• TV deals: OLEDs from Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart, and more

• Smart home deals: Amazon Echo, Roomba, Google Home, Apple HomePod

• Instant Pot deals: Where to get the cheapest price

• Clothing deals and promo codes: J.Crew, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor

• Mattress deals: Nectar, Casper, Leesa, Eight Sleep, and more

LAS VEGAS — Phil Mickelson won “The Match” on Friday, finally outlasting Tiger Woods in an exhausting $9 million made-for-television battle between the pair to clinch some bragging rights over his rival as well as the huge cash prize.

Mickelson played the better golf throughout and withstood a late moment of magic from Woods, before eventually prevailing in a floodlit chip-and-putt shootout on the 22nd hole as darkness fell upon Shadow Creek.

Woods appeared on the brink of defeat when he entered the 17th hole 1-down in the match-play clash, then sent his tee shot to the back of the green, leaving himself a tougher putt than Mickelson.

However, with the kind of drama reminiscent of his run of dominance more than a decade ago, Woods chipped in a 22-footer from the fringe of the green and Mickelson missed to square things up once more.

Mickelson missed a putt for the win their first time through 18, then Woods was wide from 8 feet on the first extra hole. At that point, the match became a shortened playoff, aiming at the 18th green again but from just 93 yards away. Mickelson saw two more chances at victory evade him, including a simple-looking 6-footer, before, at last, a perfect chip to 4 feet allowed him to drain the clincher and pump his fist in triumph.

Woods, the 14-time major champion, rarely discovered his best form, and had his 48-year-old opponent managed to find any kind of putting rhythm, Mickelson may have run away with the match.

Instead, Woods, who led just once (after winning the 12th) before his late burst, stuck around just long enough for his championship instinct to surface at last and provide what eventually became a thrilling and breathless finish.

For all the intrigue of being able to listen to the mic’d-up players and without the natural noise of a championship event, it was a tense affair throughout, with neither player able to produce much in the way of sparkling moments of inspiration.

Both men seemed to be conscious that their every word would be heard by a television audience and while they were comfortable talking smack to each other at the news conference promoting the match, the chatter was largely constrained to pleasant small talk once things got under way.

No tickets were sold to the public but there were around 700 in attendance, with connections to the sponsors or broadcasters.

A series of charity wagers were also placed between the players, most frequently taking the form of closest-to-the-pin bets on the par threes, with Mickelson getting the better of the side action, raising $400k for his nominated cause.

Distributed on pay per view with a $19.95 price tag it attracted its share of critics, from fellow players and the public. Turner ultimately gave away the online B/R stream for free after issues with the purchasing mechanism.

The match itself was winner-take-all, with Mickelson claiming the entire purse, which was raised by sponsorship and broadcast revenues.

 

Image: google

Googling a question you don’t know the answer to is just about as second nature as flinching when something’s flying at your face. 

So if you could give the gift of hands-free Google anytime, anywhere in the house, why wouldn’t you? for Black Friday, which is basically half off. If that’s not the best stocking stuffer idea you’ve ever heard, we don’t know what is.

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The Google Home Mini brings hands-free help to any room in the house, and has the ability to connect to over 5,000 smart devices from 150 brands for homes that are all about that life. We’ve also heard that Google Assistant is actually a slightly smarter alternative to the Echo Dot, on tons of frequently asked questions. (But hey — like some people are just always going to be iPhone people, some people are just always going to be Amazon people. If you’re that person, the Echo Dot is while it’s waiting to get restocked on Amazon.)

Regularly $49, you can take nearly 50% off and get the Google Assistant for you or anyone on your gifting list . But act fast — hungry Black Friday shoppers won’t let this stay in stock for long.

Black Friday 2018 deals by store

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Tijuana, Mexico – Bekeni Christain Tabasangh was one of dozens of people seeking the shade at the edge of a Tijuana plaza near the foot of the pedestrian bridge crossing into San Diego about a week ago. 

Weeks earlier, he signed up on the list that included the names people waiting in Mexico to request asylum in the United States.

Tabsangh, 33, left Cameroon in August, fleeing violence in the country’s Anglophone regions.

Government forces are battling an armed Anglophone separatist movement in southern Cameroon, including where Tabasangh is from, in the Fako Division. Civilians are also being targeted.

The conflict has killed more than 400 people since last year and forced thousands more to flee, according to rights group and the United Nations.

“I escaped Cameroon because they were looking for youths, killing youths all over,” said Tabasangh told Al Jazeera. 

“When they see you, they will say that we are terrorists. Likewise, the terrorists that are fighting with them, they are somewhere, hiding, so when [government security forces] run into you on the street they will not even ask if you are one of them or not, they will just kill you,” he said.

The government, police and separatists often give conflicting accounts of who is responsible for the killings, but Tabasangh said  police broke down the door of his younger brother’s home and shot him dead. 

“People are dying every day for no good reason. They don’t want the media to expose it,” Tabasangh said.

The long wait

Tabsangh’s wait to enter the US came as thousands of Central Americans, part of a mass exodus, trickled into Tijuana area to sign up on the waiting list to seek asylum in the US. 

Many told Al Jazeera they are fleeing violence, poverty or political persecution. The first of the highly visible groups, originally dubbed caravans and now a self-denominated exodus, left Honduras last month.

More than 5,000 migrants and refugees are now in Tijuana, and most of them are staying in a local stadium complex that is more than 2,000 people over capacity. Subsequent waves of the exodus, largely from Honduras and El Salvador, are making their way up through Mexico.

Baja California state Governor Francisco Arturo Vega is urging migrants and refugees taking part in the exodus to spread out to other ports of entry along the border instead of further concentrating in Baja California, “to alleviate what we have here and to try to address and manage it with more promptness, with more efficiency.”

US President Donald Trump has referred to the exodus as an “invasion”, which has no basis in reality, migrant and human rights organisations say. Furthermore, the US is intentionally creating bottlenecks and long wait times for asylum seekers for no good reason other than to attempt to dissuade people from seeking asylum, according to advocates.

“The US government’s refusal to prepare to receive refugees, which it knew about for some time, has created a humanitarian crisis in Tijuana and other Mexican border cities,” Al Otro Lado border rights project director Nicole Ramos said in a statement this week.

“It is inconceivable that a government, one arguably among the most powerful and wealthiest in the world, chose to install barbed wire and soldiers in place of developing strategies and spaces to process refugees expeditiously, and with the human dignity that all human beings deserve,” she said. 

Lado’s comments have been echoed by other rights groups at the border. The number of individuals who are able to cross into the US to request asylum varies widely from day to day.

US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) strongly disagrees with any assertions that border officials are intentionally creating backlogs and bottlenecks at ports of entry to dissuade or deter people from seeking asylum.

“CBP processes undocumented persons as expeditiously as possible without negating the agency’s overall mission, or compromising the safety of individuals within our custody,” a CBP spokesperson wrote in an email to Al Jazeera.

“Depending upon port circumstances at the time of arrival, individuals presenting without documents may need to wait in Mexico as CBP officers work to process those already within our facilities,” the spokesperson said.

Trump ramps up threats

Meanwhile, the US government continues to ramp up measures in response to the Central American exodus.

Trump has deployed thousands of active duty troops to border areas and given the military more authority, including for the use of lethal force. 

On Thursday, Trump once again threatened to shut down the border with Mexico, alleging the situation could get out of control.

Trump’s renewed threat will not likely affect Tabasangh, though. After four and a half weeks of waiting, his number was nearly up.

He will take almost no belongings with him. It was a long journey across three continents, including more than 7,500km up through Latin America alone, and almost everything he had brought with him from home was stolen.

When he first left on August 19, he travelled across West Africa to get to Ghana where he flew to Istanbul and then to Colombia. Once arriving in South America, he bussed, boated and trekked from one border and immigration checkpoint to the next. Due to tightened restrictions in Nicaragua, Tabsangh had to trek through dangerous forest routes to avoid checkpoints and border authorities.

“I was robbed terribly. They take my passport, take money from me, take my hand luggage, all my shoes, everything,” he said.

He eventually made it to Mexico, where after spending a week in detention was given a transit permit, one of the only documents Tabsangh carries with him.

Dated October 19, it granted him two weeks to leave the country because until not all that long ago, that is how long it would take to cross all of Mexico and request asylum in the US. When Tabasangh finally crosses the bridge from Tijuana over into the US, his permit will have been expired for more than two and a half weeks.

For those still arriving, the wait could be several months, and some migrants and refugees are starting to become frustrated. A group of roughly 100 people walked towards the San Ysidro port of entry on Thursday in an attempt to pressure for a solution. Hundreds decided to camp out sleeping in the area Thursday night for the same purpose.

Near the foot of the pedestrian bridge over into the US, the sun began to rise Friday over migrants and refugees in the plaza, huddled under blankets for warmth. Others who had arrived before the Central American exodus soon showed up to check if their number was going to be called.

Fox News guest Anna Paulina apologized for comparing former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to a sexually transmitted disease in a Thursday segment broadcast by the network.

“Yesterday on Fox I was placed on the wrong segment & in the confusion made a brash and unprofessional joke,” Paulina tweeted Friday. “To Fox and those watching, I am deeply sorry.”

The network offered on-air apologies and cut Paulina’s segment short, Fox News said in a Friday statement to USA TODAY.

The clip, as published by The Daily Caller, shows the confusion that led up to the controversial comment.

In the clip, Paulina is introduced as the director of Hispanic engagement at a conservative organization. She is asked to comment on recent news surrounding Hillary Clinton, but she instead begins to talk about border security.

Fox News host Rick Leventhal interrupts Paulina to redirect the conversation to Clinton, as Paulina laughs about the apparent mistake, offering an inaudible explanation.

After directing a question to another guest, Leventhal expresses amazement that Clinton is still making national headlines two years after she lost the 2016 presidential election to Donald Trump.

“She won’t go away,” Paulina said with a sigh. “She’s like herpes.”

Leventhal immediately distances himself from the comment: “Um, okay. That’s news that we’re breaking here. Not appropriate.”

He later apologized to viewers for “the language that was used in the segment,” Fox News said in a statement.

Another host also apologized later: “We want to reiterate that we do not condone the language that Anna Paulina just displayed here, and we apologize to Secretary Clinton for that.” Arthel Neville said, according to a Fox News statement. “Fox News does not condone her sentiment.”

The segment discussed Clinton in the wake of a New York Times report that said, citing unnamed sources, President Donald Trump had expressed a desire for the Justice Department to pursue charges against Clinton.

The controversy involving Paulina is not the first time this year a media personality came under criticism for comparing a powerful woman to a sexually transmitted disease. In July, comedian Michelle Wolf compared Ivanka Trump to herpes in a segment punctuated with expletives. 

 

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Image: Eight Sleep

It’s a well-known fact that we spend about a third of our lives in bed. If you haven’t upgraded your mattress or your sheets in a while (can you even remember the last time you changed them?!), then Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the perfect time to score something new. 

SEE ALSO: All the best Black Friday 2018 sales, right in one place

Rather than maneuver the store crowds or dig through websites for the best deals though, we’ve done all the hard work for you. If you want something simple, you can get the Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Mattress, which is 25% off. But if you want a mattress to stay cool, there’s the Eight Sleep The Venus+ mattress with it’s latex layer to cool you off while you sleep. This puppy is $100 off, plus you’ll get a free Amazon Echo Dot. (Score!)

There are plenty more deals than that though. Read on and happy shopping!

Best deals on mattresses for Black Friday 2018:

• Brooklyn Bedding: 25% off Aurora Mattress (starting list price $999)

• Brooklyn Bedding: 25% off Bloom Hybrid Mattress (starting list price $1199)

• Brooklyn Bedding: 25% off Signature Mattress (starting list price $599)

• Brooklyn Bedding: 25% off Spartan Mattress (stating list price $1399)

• Casper: 10% off any order that includes a mattress using code COZY10 (through Nov. 26)

• DreamCloud Sleep Mattress — save $200 on all mattresses, starting at $799

• Eight Sleep The Jupiter+ — $100 off all mattresses and a free Amazon Echo Dot, starting at $999 (starting list price $1099)

• Eight Sleep The Mars+ — $100 off all mattresses and a free Amazon Echo Dot, starting at $1199 (starting list price $1299)

• Eight Sleep The Venus+ — $100 off all mattresses and a free Amazon Echo Dot, starting at $1599 (starting list price $1699)

• Helix Sleep — $100 off when you spend $600 or more with code HOLIDAY100;

• Helix Sleep — $150 off when you spend $1,250 or more with code HOLIDAY150

• Helix Sleep — $200 off when you spend $1,750 or more with code HOLIDAY200

• Leesa: $150 off a mattress, plus get a free pillow (a $75 value)

• Nectar Mattress — $125 off all mattresses and two free Nectar pillows, starting at $399 (starting list price $524)

• SensorGel 8″ Firm Gel-Infused Memory Foam Mattress, Quick Ship, Mattress In A Box- Twin — $199 (starting price $579)

• Signature Sleep Choice 6 Inch Coil Mattress — starting at $64 (starting list price $69)

Best deals on bedding for Black Friday 2018:

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Self-driving vehicles have been expected to bring all kinds of futuristic benefits, including smarter cities and safer streets and highways.

But some U.K. researchers have identified a potentially more risqué repercussion of the autonomous vehicle revolution: more sex in cars since no one has to be behind the wheel.

More than a dozen automakers and companies such as Uber, Lyft and Alphabet’s self-driving car company Waymo have been testing autonomous vehicles. 

While some accidents have slowed those tests, overall safety is expected to be enhanced with autonomous net-connected vehicles, with researchers estimating up to 90 percent of traffic accidents could be avoided, U.K. researchers Scott Cohen, a tourism and transport professor at the University of Surrey, and Debbie Hopkins, a geography and environmental researcher University of Oxford, write in the Annals of Tourism Research.

Autonomous vehicles are expected to be widely available by 2025 and, the most optimistic forecasts indicate, the primary means of car transportation globally, they say. But little research has focused on how self-driving vehicles might change tourism and night life, Cohen and Hopkins say in their research paper in the January 2019 issue.

“To date, such thinking has been limited to everyday – and day-time – mobilities,” they write. “Tourism and leisure users have, however, been some of the first to experience automated vehicle technologies. Future thinking needs to diversify into the broader suite of (potential) users, and temporalities.”

More: Cadillac beats Tesla as best partially self-driving system, Consumer Reports says

More: Self-driving cars: New book looks at how we’re racing toward the future, not always safely

More: What’s it like to run errands in a self-driving car? Some Phoenix regulars are sold on Waymo

Some basic benefits self-driving vehicles would provide include helping travelers avoid driving when they’re tired or unfamiliar with their travel destinations or local driving rules. Tourists could focus on sightseeing, rather than “the task of driving,” they say.

But sex and prostitution could become “a growing phenomenon” in autonomous vehicles, they suggest. Shared self-driving vehicles such as taxis or ride-sharing cars “will likely be monitored to deter passengers having sex or using drugs in them,” they write. But riders could find ways to disable such monitoring, and privately-owned self-driving vehicles “will likely be immune from such surveillance,” they write.

“Such private (connected and autonomous vehicles) may also be put to commercial use, as it is just a small leap to imagine Amsterdam’s Red Light District ‘on the move’,” they write.

Similarly, restaurants may face competition from “moving restaurants” and hotels with “moving motels,” they say. These potentially “far-reaching implications” require further study, the researchers say.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider.

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Image: Arcade1Up

Retro gaming is a great way to relive your childhood, but playing old school games on new hardware just doesn’t feel the same. That’s why Arcade1Up is bringing the arcade into your home with a collection of classic games from video games’ golden age. For Black Friday, Walmart has four of the retro gaming company’s arcade cabinets on sale for just $249.00 each, a $50 savings. 

Arcade1Up re-created arcade cabinets featuring immersive full-color HD displays and audio with original joystick and control buttons, but in four-foot tall cabinets with original artwork from the era. 

These are exactly how you remember playing video games when you were a kid, but shrunk down to a smaller size. The best part about these arcade machines is that they’re completely coinless, so you can spend hours playing classic games without pumping in more quarters for another continue.

Capcom’s Street Fighter II is still considered one of the best fighting games of all-time with the same controls and gameplay as the arcade original from the early ’90s. This version features Street Fighter II: Championship Edition, as well as Street Fighter II: The New Challengers and Street Fighter II: Turbo all in one cabinet.

Asteroids took arcades by storm in 1979 with its thrilling adventure through space in a shooting defense game where you must prevent rogue asteroids from destroying your ship. The more asteroids you break up, the longer you can stay in space. The Asteroids cabinet also features additional video games, including Major Havoc, Lunar Lander, and Tempest for hours of playtime and fun.

Released in 1981, Centipede was one of the most successful video games during the ’80s. The game’s top down strategy shooter gave gamers an instant challenge of hunting down an alien centipede before it made its way to you. Centipede’s bright colors pop on Arcade1Up’s HD 17-inch LCD display, along with Millipede, Missile Command, and Crystal Castles, which also comes with the arcade cabinet.

Fun fact: Centipede’s co-creator Dona Bailey was one of the first women to design and program an arcade cabinet.

Before it was a hit movie starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Rampage was an arcade smash featuring three giant monsters named George, Lizzy, and Ralph who destroyed buildings to search of food. Rampage also features Gauntlet, Joust, and Defender inside of the arcade cabinet.

Black Friday 2018 deals by store

Black Friday 2018 deals by category

• Gaming deals: Xbox One X, PlayStation 4, Nintendo, Alienware laptops, and more

• Laptop deals: Lenovo Yoga, Alienware, Dell, HP, Asus, and more

• TV deals: OLEDs from Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart, and more

• Smart home deals: Amazon Echo, Roomba, Google Home, Apple HomePod

• Instant Pot deals: Where to get the cheapest price

• Clothing deals and promo codes: J.Crew, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Nordstrom, Lord &Taylor

NEW YORK – A state supreme court judge has cleared the way for the New York state attorney general to pursue a civil lawsuit against the Trump Foundation for allegedly abusing its tax-free status and violating campaign laws by operating on behalf of President Donald Trump’s business and political interests.

In a ruling filed on Friday, New York Supreme Court Judge Saliann Scarpulla threw out an attempt by Trump and the Trump Family and Trump Foundation to dismiss the suit.

The suit was brought by New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood. She filed the lawsuit after completing an investigation opened by predecessor Eric Schneiderman. The frequent Trump critic resigned after a report that four women had accused him of assaulting them.

Scarpulla ordered the Trump side to respond to the lawsuit within 45 days.

The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Underwood said she welcomed Scarpulla’s decision. “There are rules that govern private foundations — and we intend to enforce them, no matter who runs the foundation,” she said in a statement.

In a ruling dated Wednesday and filed Friday, Scarpulla said the allegations “sufficiently support a claim that Mr. Trump intentionally used Foundation assets for his private interests knowing that it may not be in the Foundation’s best interest.”

Underwood alleges in the civil lawsuit that the Donald J. Trump Foundation and its directors, including Trump, his sons Eric and Donald Jr. and his daughter Ivanka, violated federal and state charities law with a “persistent” pattern of conduct that included unlawful coordination with the 2016 Trump presidential campaign.

Scarpulla rejected arguments by Trump’s lawyers that the case should be dismissed because he is a sitting president, and that federal, not state, courts, were better able to manage cases against a sitting president to avoid interfering with his official duties.

“This argument is meritless,” Scarpulla wrote. She cited suits against President Bill Clinton as evidence that state courts are equally capable of accommodating the president’s needs.

But Scarpulla says she’ll be forced to drop Trump from the lawsuit if a New York state appeals court rules in an unrelated case that a sitting president can’t be sued in state court. Trump’s lawyers also lost a preliminary bid to get that case dismissed.

Underwood alleges that donations to the Trump Foundation were used to settle legal obligations for Trump and his for-profit companies. She also alleges that Trump instructed the foundation to convert tax-exempt contributions into campaign funds used to make grants aimed at helping him in his presidential race.

Underwood is asking the court to dissolve the foundation and order $2.8 million in restitution plus additional penalties. Underwood also wants Trump banned from serving as a director of any New York nonprofit for 10 years, and the other board members, the Trump children, banned from serving for one year.

One of the allegations involves a fundraiser for veterans that Trump mounted just before the 2016 Iowa GOP primary to compete with a televised debate from which he had withdrawn.

The attorney general alleges that Trump campaign officials were involved in the effort and even directed where some of the donations should be sent in order to help Trump politically.

The judge rejected a Trump argument that the suit was the result of “pervasive bias” on the part of Schneiderman, a Democrat who resigned from office before the case was filed.

The Attorney General’s office investigation of the foundation, which led to the lawsuit, found that its board allegedly existed in name only, and did not meet at any point after 1999.

 

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