Donald Trump dismissed questions Monday over his charity’s illegal campaign donation to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who later decided against investigating his Trump University.
“I never spoke to her, first of all. She’s a fine person beyond reproach,” Trump told reporters in Ohio. “Never spoken to her about it. Never.”
“Many of the attorney generals turned that case down because I’ll win that case in court,” Trump added. “Many turned that down. I never spoke to her.”
The Donald J. Trump Foundation broke federal law when it gave a $25,000 gift to Bondi, as charities are prohibited from making political donations. The foundation also failed to disclose the donation, resulting in a fine from the IRS.
At the time, Bondi was considering investigating Trump University for allegations that it defrauded students, but ultimately decided against a probe of Trump’s for-profit, education business.
Trump paid the IRS a $2,500 penalty this year after the illegal donation was made public, and representatives for the Trump Organization said Trump personally reimbursed the foundation the $25,000.
Trump said he never spoke to Bondi about anything in return for his donation, when reporters asked why he gave the money.
“I have a lot of respect for her. Never spoke to her about that at all. I just have a lot of respect for her and she’s very popular,” he said.
Several former students of Trump University allege in lawsuits that the business misled them by failing to deliver the academic credentials they were promised. Trump has denied the allegations, and attacked one of the judges overseeing two of the cases, saying his Mexican ethnicity makes him biased against Trump and unfit to rule fairly.
