SEPTEMBER 7, 2016
Photo: AP
Trump again. Sorry, but he’s the gift that keeps on giving. And this one’s a dilly.
You remember Trump University, don’t you? That fabulous institute of higher learning which promised that students would get exclusive access to Donald Trump, who would reveal his inner business tactics that made him a so-called billionaire but instead encouraged students to max out their credit cards to pay for courses where Trump might appear. (Hint: he never did.)
Many of the students scammed were from Florida, and when the New York state attorney general began a probe of the controversial institution, newly elected Republican Florida attorney general Pam Bondi announced that she might join the probe. Four days later after she received a $25,000 campaign contribution from the Trump Foundation and subsequently announced that she had decided to drop Florida’s consideration of joining the Trump probe. Hmmn….
Quid pro quo.
It’s a phrase meaning a favor expected after in return for something, such as, for example, a campaign contribution. It’s a phrase that Trump has been using lately against Hillary Clinton, implying she used her position as Secretary of State to do favors for donors in exchange for large donations to the charitable Clinton Foundation. No evidence of any wrongdoing, no proof at all, but Trump says he’s just asking a question.
So I’ll just ask a question too. What about Trump’s deal with Bondi isn’t quid pro quo, or as they call it these days, “pay for play?” And why isn’t it a crime?
Turns out it is. And it was revealed last week that Trump paid a $2500 fine for violating the law prohibiting charitable organizations from making political contributions. So the Trump Foundation admitted to committing a crime, but Donald wants us to believe that the Clinton Foundation is the shady one.
After dropping the investigation of Trump University, Bondi remained close with Trump, who agreed to allow her to throw a fundraiser in 2014 at his lavish Mar-a-Lago resort, charging her a deeply discounted rate of $4800 compared with the $140,000 Trump charges his own campaign for events there. Nothing illegal about that, but it’s just another example of a “favor” that Trump gave to Bondi, who went on to become a notorious opponent of LGBT rights and is probably most famous for delaying an execution because she wanted to go to a fundraiser.
So the next time Trump wants to throw a stone at the Clinton Foundation, he may want to consider his own glass house.
