Donald Trump uses Trump Foundation funds to pay $25,000 to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi in exchange for her assistance in a lawsuit against Trump University.
Bondi solicited the payment herself a few weeks before news broke that she was considering joining lawsuit against the “university.” A month later, she announces that she will not pursue action against Trump or his business.
Soon after, Trump also lets Bondi hold a campaign fundraising event at Mar-a-Lago for a small fraction of the cost he would normally charge for the venue.
In 2016, Trump Foundation admits to the IRS that the $25,000 was paid as an illegal political contribution to Bondi and not to the charity that the payment was listed under in the company’s tax filings.
In 2019, a judge orders Donald Trump to pay $2 million for additional illegal payments by the Trump Foundation.
“More than three years ago, we first drew America’s attention to Donald Trump’s illegal operation of his eponymous charitable foundation for his own personal and political benefit. Over the next six months, our investigation turned up repeated abuses of the law, leading to numerous complaints and an IRS fine. Today’s settlement of the suit brought by the New York Attorney General’s Office is a fitting and poetic end to this scandal.
Citizens For Responsibility & Ethics in Washington, 2019
Sources
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/01/trump-pays-irs-a-penalty-for-his-foundation-violating-rules-with-gift-to-florida-attorney-general/
https://www.citizensforethics.org/press-release/crew-files-criminal-bribery-complaint-donald-trump-pam-bondi/
https://apnews.com/e16a8223c24048d290883370dc6abe5b
Photo: Public Domain
