State attorney clears Donald Trump, Pam Bondi on campaign donation
A state prosecutor cleared Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and President Donald Trump of wrongdoing Thursday in connection with a $25,000 contribution to a political action committee supporting her 2014 re-election campaign.
Massachusetts lawyer J. Whitfield Larrabee alleged Trump used the campaign contribution he made in 2013 to persuade Bondi not to investigate his online university.
But a prosecutor from the office of State Attorney Stephen B. Russell wrote in a memo that Larrabee’s allegation had no evidence.
“There’s nothing contained therein that Larrabee had any direct knowledge, physical evidence or sworn testimonial evidence that the offense of bribery occurred,” wrote Amira D. Fox, Russell’s chief assistant attorney. “The majority of the complaint consists of insinuation without any material evidence in support.”
Larrabee said Russell’s decision was flawed, partly because he was never contacted.
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“I condemn the decision of State Attorney Stephen Russell not to conduct an investigation of Attorney General Bondi for violating Florida’s laws prohibiting public officials from accepting a bribe,” Larrabee wrote in a statement. “The decision is factually and legally flawed. Before making the decision, no one from the State Attorney’s office spoke with me about this matter.”
Attempts to contact Bondi for comment through her office were unsuccessful.
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Russell's decision comes about a week after a federal judge approved a $25 million settlement between Trump and students who paid his university for real estate seminars.
Larrabee’s complaint stems from Trump contributing $25,000 to Bondi’s And Justice for All political action committee.
Larrabee used nine news reports in his complaint to show Trump made the donation to stop Bondi from investigating Trump University. The school faced thousands of complaints from students who described its courses as worthless.
Bondi disputed the media reports during a September news conference outside her state Capitol office. She said her staff reviewed one consumer complaint and was aware of an investigation by the New York attorney general. But an investigation in Florida never was begun, she said.
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Bondi had also said she asked Trump for the money and he drew the contribution from his charity foundation. Using a charity to make a political contribution is a federal offense, and the IRS handed Trump a fine and forced him to repay the foundation with his own money.
Bondi said she had tried to give back the money to Trump’s foundation, but she was not allowed.
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Larrabee criticized Russell’s office for not responding to Bondi’s acceptance of the charity money.
“There is no doubt that the solicitation and acceptance of a $25,000 payment from the Trump Foundation by Attorney General Bondi, while her office was reviewing complaints against Trump University, corruptly violated Florida law,” Larrabee wrote. “It is illegal under the laws of Florida and of the United States to solicit or accept money from a charity for a political campaign.”
Larrabee filed his complaint late last year with the Hillsborough County state attorney’s office where Bondi worked as a prosecutor. That conflict prompted Gov. Rick Scott to reassign the case in December to Russell’s Fort Myers-based office.
Fox noted in her memo to Russell that Larrabee filed his complaint Aug. 1 — 13 days after Trump received the Republican nomination for president. He also filed eight identical complaints with federal and state authorities in New York and Florida in June, days after Scott announced he would not investigate Bondi or Trump.