Attorney calls for bribery investigation of Florida Attorney General Bondi over Trump donation

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Massachusetts attorney is calling for the U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi on accusations she took a $25,000 bribe from Donald Trump.

The Trump Foundation, a nonprofit organization, gave Bondi’s political action committee the donation in 2013.

They later tried to return it, Bondi’s PAC treasurer said earlier in June.

Questions about Trump’s donation were renewed in March, when Bondi endorsed Trump for president.

Bondi's PAC treasurer, Nancy Watkins, said the organization tried to return the money to The Trump Foundation after realizing it was a charity, which could be a violation of the rules governing political activities by charities.

Watkins said The Trump Foundation refused to accept the check, saying that Trump wrote a personal check to the foundation to cover the amount.

Whitfield Larrabee, the Boston trial attorney now calling for the investigation, said he believes Bondi should be charged with bribery because when her PAC received the Trump donation, her the office was also investigating the business practices of Trump University, a now-defunct, for-profit company.

A month after Bondi received the donation, the Florida Attorney General’s Office decided not to pursue any investigation into Trump University.

WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said the timing raised questions.

“The situation in and of itself erodes public confidence in the judicial and law enforcement system,” he said.

In a statement, Bondi refuted claims that the donation had affected her handling of allegations against Trump University.

The allegations against here were “false and misleading – including statements that my office ‘publicly announced it was deliberating whether to join a lawsuit,’ or that I ‘nixed suing Trump,’”” she said in the statement. “My office has made public every document on this issue, which shows no one in my office ever opened an investigation on Trump University, nor was there a basis for doing so.

“Any news story that suggests otherwise is completely false. I have spent my career prosecuting criminals and protecting Floridians and will not compromise my dedication to our citizens.”

Statements Trump has made on the presidential campaign trail about the benefits of giving money to politicians, have complicated the situation.

“I’ve got to give to them, because when I want something, I get it,” he said during a January stop in Iowa. “When I call, they kiss my ass.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has not indicated it has any plans to investigate Bondi and the Trump Foundation donation, but Sheaffer said it’s unlikely it won’t at least broach the subject.

“There certainly seems to be enough here to raise an issue of impropriety,” he said. “You can bet the U.S. Attorney’s Office is just not going to dismiss this without taking a good look at it.”

Bondi could not be reached for comment.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott has said he would not call for any independent investigations into the contribution.

Contact Jamie Holmes for more on this story.

Cox Media Group