Why Trump's donation to Pam Bondi has come back to bite him
Donald Trump has repeatedly accused Hillary Clinton and her family's charity — the Clinton Foundation — of giving special access to donors while the Democratic nominee was secretary of State. While there have been a series of questions raised about the fuzzy overlap between the foundation and the State Department, nothing has been proved. However, Trump and his allies have repeatedly accused her of employing a "pay-to-play" environment during her tenure at the State Department.
But now, a three-year old donation to the Florida attorney general by Trump's charity is bringing up its own list of questions. So what happened with Trump's donation to Pam Bondi?
Bondi solicits money from Trump
The attorney general of Florida — in prepping for her 2014 re-election — personally solicited money from Trump, according toThe Associated Press. Trump’s charity, The Donald J. Trump Foundation, responded with a $25,000 donation to a Bondi-aligned PAC.
Some issues with the donation
1. The donation came at the same time that Bondi was considering joining an investigation into Trump University. There was an investigation being led by the state of New York that alleged his for-profit-university had ripped off students. After the donation came in, Bondi decided not to continue with the investigation. Following Bondi dropping the investigation, Trump rented his Mar-a-Lago beach club to Bondi for a fundraiser, according to The Huffington Post.
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2. Charities are barred from donating to political candidates. The Washington Post reported that The Donald J. Trump Foundation, when filling out 2013 taxes, had said it donated to a group called “Justice for All.” But that Kansas-based nonprofit said they never got any money. The group that did receive money — called “And Justice for All” — was the PAC backing Bondi. When The Post called attention to this in March, Trump said it was just a mistake.
Trump pays an IRS penalty over the donation
Last week, The Washington Post also reported that Trump paid a $2,500 penalty to the IRS this year over the donation. The Trump Organization said that it was not aware of the mistake until it was reported this spring. They said after it was discovered, Trump filed paperwork to the IRS and paid the penalty. The Trump Organization also told The Washington Post that Trump had reimbursed the foundation $25,000 on his own.
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Trump and Bondi maintain that there is nothing wrong
Previously, Trump has been very open about using his donations to political figures on both sides of the aisle to gain access while he was a businessman. He often uses his past actions as an example of the corrupt political system that he is fighting against.
“As a businessman and a very substantial donor to very important people, when you give, they do whatever the hell you want them to do,” Trump told The Wall Street Journal last summer. “As a businessman, I need that.”
But on Wednesday Trump’s campaign manager said Trump and Bondi never discussed the lawsuit and that he has supported "many, many Republican candidates" over the years.
"In the case of Mr. Trump and Attorney General Bondi, they said they never discussed the Trump University lawsuit," Kellyanne Conway, Trump's campaign manager, said on ABC's Good Morning America.
Conway said it is no comparison to Clinton, "who had her official staff — that we pay for — bartering for positions and bartering for state dinners and just making contributions that are inappropriate," Conway added.
Bondi, who endorsed Trump in March, has also denied the allegations.
“It is absolutely untrue and Hillary Clinton will not bully me,” Bondi told Fox Business Tuesday. “Of course I asked Donald Trump for a contribution; that’s not what this is about. She [Clinton] was saying he was under investigation by my office at the time and I knew about it, none of which is true.”
