Reichelfelder said that Bondi was unaware of dozens of consumer complaints received by her office about Trump’s real-estate seminars at the time she requested the donation.
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The Internal Revenue Service fined the Trump Organization $2,500 over the matter, saying it never reported the donation and violated federal law prohibiting tax-free charities from making political donations.
“The Foundation claimed on its tax returns that it engaged in no political activity and listed a different, permissible group as receiving the contribution”, CREW’s press release said.
In the heat of a presidential campaign, you’d think that a story about one party’s nominee giving a large contribution to a state attorney general who promptly shut down an inquiry into that nominee’s scam “university” would be enormous news. A Trump aide also told the Post that the real estate mogul had since reimbursed the foundation for the improper donation. And the campaign says Donald Trump paid the IRS fine.
“It wasn’t done intentionally to hide a political donation; it was just an error”, McConney added. That’s the call from Democrats with questions about the $25,000 donation from the Donald J. Trump Foundation.
That’s when Bondi announced she wasn’t going forward with a lawsuit against Trump and wouldn’t join Schneiderman’s lawsuit, citing insufficient evidence to prosecute the NY real estate mogul, according to the AP. “She had no choice because I gave to a foundation”. She’s a fine person. “I never spoke to her”.
When asked about the donation made back in 2013, Trump’s campaign declined to comment. She also insinuated that the money was given as part of a quid pro quo, reporting, “Today Bondi accused Hillary Clinton of trying to gin up outrage…. It may well be that not pursuing the matter was the right thing to do – but the presence of a $25,000 check from Trump, and his boasts that he manipulates politicians with campaign cash, makes that conclusion far less credible”. Both she and Trump say they did not discuss the pending fraud case in those conversations. You know what? When I need something from them, two years later, three years later, I call them, and they are there for me. While attorney general races are usually decided on issues of crime and prosecution, Bondi ran partly on her anti-LGBT credibility. “You know, he has not tried to hide the fact that has occurred”. And, like, Bondi, Abbott got contributions from Trump, this time from the man himself. Florida did not join the case, a decision the attorney general’s office said was made by subordinates, not by Ms. Bondi.
Sep. 17: The Trump Foundation writes a $25,000 check to Justice For All. Bondi would subsequently announce that she would not join the fraud lawsuit.
Months later, Trump held a fundraiser for Bondi, opening up his 126-room, 110,000-square-foot Mar-a-Lago mansion.
“When I want something, I get it”, he said during a January event.
Donald Trump brags, loudly and often, about his ability to influence elected officials with well-placed campaign donations. But I can’t find much evidence that staffers actually looked.
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The American people deserve to know what was said because clearly, the Attorney General did not proceed with the investigation.
