Pam Bondi Receives Illegal $25,000 Trump Foundation Donation During Trump University Investigation

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s political committee “And Justice for All” received a $25,000 donation from the Donald J. Trump Foundation on September 17, 2013, just four days after her office announced it was reviewing complaints about Trump University and might join New York’s fraud investigation. The donation was illegal under federal tax law, which prohibits 501(c)(3) charitable foundations from making political contributions. Bondi personally solicited the donation from Trump, and her office subsequently declined to pursue any investigation or enforcement action against Trump University, despite receiving at least 22 consumer complaints from Florida residents between 2008-2011. In stark contrast, Bondi aggressively pursued similar for-profit education fraud cases against competitors like Keiser University around the same time period. The IRS fined the Trump Foundation $2,500 for the illegal donation, and Trump was later ordered by a New York court to pay $2 million in damages for foundation misuse, including the Bondi donation. In 2016, a Florida state prosecutor concluded there was insufficient evidence to charge Trump or Bondi with bribery, though Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington had filed complaints with the DOJ and IRS. The scandal established a pattern of quid pro quo corruption that would characterize Bondi’s relationship with Trump, from her role defending him during impeachment to her 2025 appointment as Attorney General overseeing politically motivated prosecutions of his enemies.