Rieder: Trump Foundation scandal needs more attention

As you may have noticed, it doesn't take a lot to fire up media attention during the bizarre presidential campaign we are now enduring.

Awhile back, it was Donald Trump and a crying baby. Recently, there's the question of what's up with Hillary Clinton's coughing attacks, which even earned a story on nbcnews.com headlined, "Hillary Clinton Fights Back Coughing Attack." You just can't make this stuff up.

And when an actual controversy comes along — say Donald Trump's dust-up with Gold Star parents — you're apt to see the full package: endless panel discussions on cable, digital frenzy, blaring headlines, the Sunday shows.

So when it turns out that a candidate's foundation has been fined for a making an illegal contribution, and said contribution had been given to a group supporting an attorney general at the time weighing whether to investigate  at the candidate's university, you'd expect full media paroxysm, right?

Why Trump's donation to Pam Bondi has come back to bite him

Particularly after the media had for weeks been focused on the foundation of the candidate's rival, finding no shortage of things that sounded kind of Icky Woods but nothing nearly as definitive as the other candidate's illegal contribution. (Charitable foundations are not permitted to make political donations.)

But that's not what has happened, at least not so far. The reaction to the news that the Trump Foundation had been fined for the gift to a group supporting Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has been far more muted. And that's unfortunate. It's a subject that deserves and requires thorough exploration.

Trump: No connection between campaign cash, Trump U. case

The saga began Sept. 1 when The Washington Post's David A. Fahrenthold broke the news of the fine.

His story began:

"Donald Trump paid the IRS a $2,500 penalty this year, an official at Trump's company said, after it was revealed that Trump's charitable foundation had violated tax laws by giving a political contribution to a campaign group connected to Florida's attorney general.

"The improper donation, a $25,000 gift from the Donald J. Trump Foundation, was made in 2013. At the time, Attorney General Pam Bondi was considering whether to investigate fraud allegations against Trump University. She decided not to pursue the case."

What was particularly striking is that the story surfaced after a wealth of coverage of interactions between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department while Hillary Clinton was secretary of State. Emails showed a porous wall indeed between the two, with Foundation officials seeking favors for donors from top Clinton aides at State.

While none of the proverbial smoking guns has emerged — no link between Foundation intervention and actual State Department actions — there certainly were instances where the entreaties brought home access.  At worst, things certainly "looked bad," which under the circumstances is bad enough.  There were calls to shut down the Foundation, from, among others,USA TODAY.

Mothball the Clinton Foundation: Our view

While Clinton supporters have assailed the coverage — "there's nothing there"  — I think there's no doubt this was a worthy journalistic pursuit, as has been the coverage of Clinton's irresponsible handling of email while at State.

But the ample Clinton Foundation coverage seems to scream for a full-court press on the Trump Foundation disclosure, which is a slam dunk. An illegal contribution. A government fine. And certainly a far stronger suggestion of the "pay for play" Clinton critics were howling about than has emerged at the Clinton Foundation.

Trump loves to refer to his cough-prone opponent as "Crooked Hillary." Yet in the past he has bragged about his peerless prowess at playing the game. "I was a businessman. I give to everybody," he said at a GOP debate last August. "When they call, I give. And you know what? When I need something from them, two years later, three years later, I call them, and they are there for me.” (In the current case, Trump and Bondi  deny wrongdoing.)

Rieder: Trump needs more scrutiny, not less

What's more, there's also the element of subterfuge in the Bondi contribution. In its 2013 filing, the Post reported, the Foundation didn't list the improper political donation. Instead, it listed a $25,000 donation to a Kansas charity with a name similar to the Bondi political group's. The foundation had not given any money to the Kansas outfit.

But not to worry: "It was just an honest mistake," the Trump Organization's Jeffrey McConney said.

I don't know about you, but this seems like a serious deal to me, particularly given all of the Clinton Foundation sturm und drang. It has received some media attention, but nothing like the full airing it deserves. Last Sunday, only one of the Sunday talk show hosts — CBS' John Dickerson — brought up the matter.

But there are signs of hope. The New York Times, which has lagged on the story, posted a piece Tuesday headlined, "Donald Trump’s Donation Is His Latest Brush With Campaign Fund Rules." Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway was asked about the tainted contribution Wednesday on ABC's Good Morning America. And in a strong editorial posted Tuesday, the Miami Herald said, "What is puzzling, given the blanket coverage of the Clinton Foundation, is why the report of a foundation linked to a presidential nominee giving money to an attorney general weighing an investigation of an alleged scam involving the nominee should not get equal billing."

True that. But it's hardly too late for news outlets and cable TV to step up and give the matter the attention it deserves.

Follow USA TODAY columnist Rem Rieder on Twitter @remrieder