President-elect Donald Trump's new attorney general pick Pam Bondi seemed a clear upgrade on his original pick, but her nomination has revived concerns about a donation she received at the same time her office considered a case against Trump University.
Bondi, a former Florida attorney general, has emerged as Trump's new pick for attorney general after Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration in the face of increasing pressure and pushback due to fresh allegations about sexual misconduct involving a 17-year-old girl.
Team Trump moved quickly to replace Gaetz, naming Bondi just six hours after Gaetz announced he would withdraw his nomination. Gaetz said he believed the media circus around his bid to become the next U.S. attorney general would distract too much from allowing Trump to hit the ground running and achieve his lofty ambitions once in office again.
Trump touted Bondi's experience as a prosecutor "for nearly 20 years, where she was very tough on Violent Criminals, and made the streets safe for Florida Families."
The appointment drew praise from some quarters, such as CNN legal analyst Elie Honig, who backed Bondi as "without a question, qualified to be attorney general."
"She's been a prosecutor for 20 years in Florida," Honig said, contrasting her experience with that of Gaetz. "For eight of those, she was the attorney general of the state. That's a very big, very complicated job. And that level of experience is on par with or better than most United States attorneys general that we've seen over the past 50 years or so."
However, Bondi has her own baggage, such as past lobbying for Qatar, her support for the "big lie" of the 2020 election and a $25,000 donation she accepted from the Donald J. Trump Foundation while her office considered complaints against Trump University.
Newsweek reached out to the Trump transition team and Bondi via email on Friday for comment.
Trump in November 2016 settled for a $25 million payout to some 3,700 former students who sued Trump over what then-New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman described as a "bait-and-switch scheme."
Complainants had tried to appeal to Bondi, only in office for two years at the time, at the same time that she had personally gone to Trump to seek a donation for her campaign. Trump ended up paying $25,000 to Bondi's campaign, later paying a $2,500 penalty because charitable organizations are not authorized to donate to political groups, according to CNN.
Trump insisted at the time that he never spoke with Bondi about the case, saying that he had known her "for years" and had "a lot of respect for her as a person, and she has done an amazing job as the attorney general of Florida."
Bondi also insisted that she was unaware at the time of the case, according to Bondi's spokesman Whitney Ray, who told CNN that "there was never an investigation" and "staff, doing due diligence, reviewed the complaints and the New York litigation and made proper determination that the New York litigation would provide relief to aggrieved consumers nationwide."
Bondi also later said her office 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."
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), in a timeline of the events related to this case, noted that the Orlando Sentinel had received comment from the Florida Office of the Attorney General (OAG) that it had received complaints between 2008 and 2011 regarding Trump University, the Trump Institute and "related entities" and was "reviewing the allegation," telling the Palm Beach Post the same thing in September 2013.
Newsweek reached out to CREW by email on Friday evening for comment.
Days later, the Donald J. Trump Foundation made its contribution to a political group backing Bondi, which she personally solicited from him.
One month later, the OAG told CREW that "there was no consideration of whether to join [the New York lawsuit]. In light of the fact the Attorney General's Office received only one consumer complaint 2.5 years ago, there is no investigation at this time."
CREW would in 2016 file its own complaint against the Trump Foundation over the donation, which led to Trump paying the $2,500 penalty.
Bondi would tell the Tampa Bay Times she was "devastated" by the allegation that the donation in some way was related to her office passing over the Trump University case, saying, "I was never, nor was my office, investigating him. Never. I would never lie. I would never take money. I've been obviously devastated over this."
CREW went on to pursue a complaint against Bondi and her office for "failing to investigate or take legal action regarding complaints against Trump University and related entities after an affiliated political organization received a contribution from the Trump Foundation."
Bondi in 2016 told reporters that she had "done nothing improper" and that she would "never let any money, anyone stop what I do" or "trade any campaign donation .. for some type of favor to anyone," according to USA Today.
Trump ultimately dissolved the Donald J. Trump Foundation due to the ongoing allegations and investigations. The then-New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood described the group's work as riddled with "persistently illegal conduct."
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