Donald Trump, who has repeatedly denounced pay-to-play politics during his insurgent campaign, is now defending himself against assertions that he donated $25,000 to a group supporting the Florida attorney general, Pam Bondi, to sway her office’s review of fraud allegations at Trump University.
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The Republican nominee insisted Monday in a gaggle with reporters that he “never spoke to” Bondi about the investigations into Trump University. Clinton has regularly noted on the campaign trail that the Republican foreign policy establishment remains deeply uneasy with Trump and has pointed to many conservative foreign policy experts who have endorsed her.
“I never even spoke to her about it at all”. Never spoke to her about that at all. Never. Many of the AGs turned that case down because I’ll win that case in court, many turned that down. “Well, I just don’t think she has a presidential look, and you need a presidential look”, he told ABC’s David Muir.
A political aide to Bondi told the Associated Press this year that the attorney general had solicited the donation in a conversation with Trump weeks before the Sentinel’s article.
Florida didn’t join the lawsuit filed by New York’s attorney general. Pam Bondi took office in 2011.
Alan Garten, the in-house counsel for Trump’s business interests, also denied there were any connection between the donation and the fact that Bondi didn’t pursue claims on behalf of Florida residents then seeking refunds from Trump. “Worst of all, it appears the payment may have been meant to stave off an investigation into the sham Trump University that has ripped off unsuspecting students”. Yes, it is. And now, at last, the Internal Revenue Service has agreed by levying a fine on the foundation for violating the rules that bar political donations by the charities. Hicks said Tuesday that the improper foundation check was the result of a series of clerical errors, and that the billionaire businessman had meant to support Bondi with personal funds. “While the Clinton Foundation has received the highest ratings from independent charitable watchdogs, Donald Trump’s use of foundation money to donate to the Florida Attorney General actually broke the law”.
The former secretary of state’s brother, Tony Rodham, was in fact involved with a gold mine in Haiti – a political liability that caught attention a year ago and raised eyebrows among political observers.
The bottom line is no one is quite sure why the Donald J. Trump Foundation made a donation that day.
In March, Trump told the Post the donation emanated from a filing error by an employee. “All is squared away”.
This is the textbook definition of pay-to-play, yet the media has largely ignored it and instead chooses to cover baseless accusations about the Clinton Foundation – an A-rated organization that has helped millions of people around the globe.
Between personal barbs, the two also questioned each other’s national security credentials throughout the day, ahead of a forum in NY on Wednesday at which Clinton and Trump are scheduled to appear back to back on MSNBC and NBC to discuss issues that will confront the country’s next commander in chief.
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Although the timing of the donation is suspect, it does a disservice to the public to withhold information just to be able to hit a presidential candidate. This includes the preparation of derivative works of, or the incorporation of such content into other works. “That’s not exactly a realistic or reasonable request”. AP material published by LongIsland.com, is done so with explicit permission.
