Watching your favorite movies abroad? Don’t forget to get your Aeroshield smart DNS to access any geo-restricted content.
President-elect Donald Trump is not a magician, but he might as well be considering how a magic trick he performed more than a decade ago remains relevant and has even become a blueprint for how donations could be used as a weapon in winning when it comes to politics.
In 2013, Trump made a generous $25,000 donation to then-Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi‘s reelection campaign. Twelve years later, the story of what could only be referred to as a “charitable scandal” continues to raise eyebrows, especially now that Bondi has become Trump’s pick for the nation’s Attorney General ahead of his inauguration on Monday, Jan. 20.
Trump’s magic trick: Turning a donation into a mistake
When the scandal happened, Bondi’s office was reportedly considering fraud charges against Trump University, the returning president’s now-defunct real estate seminar business accused of ripping off students. Around the same time, the Trump Foundation — Trump’s charitable organization — cut a $25,000 check to And Justice for All, a political group supporting Bondi’s campaign, according to NonProfit PRO.
A donation is supposed to be an act of kindness and generosity, but considering the timeline of Trump’s gesture, everything about it suggested an ulterior motive. Just three days before the check arrived, Bondi’s office had confirmed that it was reviewing allegations against Trump University. However, after the donation, Florida decided against joining a lawsuit filed by then-New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, which sought $40 million in restitution for students allegedly defrauded by the real estate training company.
Trump aides brushed off the donation as a “clerical error.” According to Allen Weisselberg, CFO of The Trump Organization and the foundation’s treasurer, the funds were mistakenly sent to Bondi’s PAC instead of a Utah nonprofit with the same name. But critics were not buying it.
“It appears they gave an illegal political donation, told the IRS they didn’t give a political donation, claimed it was made to a similarly named permissible group instead — and now they’re saying it’s an error?” Jordan Libowitz, spokesperson for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), told The Washington Post in 2016.
Quid pro quo or just coincidence?
Trump’s donation not only violates federal laws prohibiting charities from making political contributions, but it also conveniently aligned with Bondi’s decision not to pursue Trump University. While Bondi’s spokesperson claimed the choice was made due to insufficient grounds, the timing remains suspicious to many.
CREW quickly pounced on the issue, filing complaints with both the IRS and the Department of Justice. The watchdog group demanded investigations into whether Trump used his charity to sway Bondi’s decision — an accusation Trump’s camp has denied vehemently. Adding fuel to the fire, the Trump Foundation failed to disclose the donation on its 2013 tax return. Instead, it falsely listed the payment as a contribution to a Kansas-based anti-abortion nonprofit. The IRS later fined the foundation $2,500 for the improper donation, as per Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
As for Bondi, who later endorsed Trump during his presidential campaign, she maintained that there was no wrongdoing. “Based on the information at hand, we are comfortable with the propriety of the contribution from the Trump Foundation,” Bondi’s campaign treasurer, Nancy Watkins, said at the time.
Still, Bondi’s close relationship with Trump has continued to draw criticism. She served as a vocal defender during Trump’s impeachment trial and was recently nominated as U.S. Attorney General. Critics argue that her past interactions with Trump, including the donation debacle, should be thoroughly analyzed.
The Trump Foundation’s legacy of power misuse
It was not the only time the Trump Foundation faced allegations of impropriety. In 2018, the New York Attorney General filed a lawsuit accusing Trump of using the foundation’s funds for personal and political gain. The case claimed Trump allegedly used charity funds to buy a $10,000 portrait of himself, settle legal disputes for his businesses, and even promote his 2016 presidential campaign, said The Post.
In a major rebuke, a New York judge ordered Trump to pay $2 million in damages and distribute the foundation’s remaining $1.8 million to legitimate charities. The Trump Foundation was also ultimately dissolved, with New York Attorney General Letitia James stating, “My office will continue to fight for accountability because no one is above the law — not a businessman, not a candidate for office, and not even the president of the United States.”
As for the Bondi donation, Trump remained defiant. “Pam Bondi is a fabulous representative of the people—Florida is lucky to have her. … The case in New York is pure politics brought by an incompetent attorney general, a political hack,” he told the Tampa Bay Times a month after the donation. But the lingering questions surrounding his foundation’s supposed “mistake” and whether it influenced Bondi’s actions have refused to go away since then.