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Wednesday, September 07, 2016 11:35:42 AM
Donald Trump’s Donation Is His Latest Brush With Campaign Fund Rules
By STEVE EDER and MEGAN TWOHEYSEPT. 6, 2016
Donald J. Trump with Florida’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, before speaking at a campaign event in Tampa on Aug. 24.
Damon Winter/The New York Times
Mr. Trump and Ms. Bondi, who is supporting his campaign, have denied any connection between his donation and her office’s decision not to proceed with an investigation. Asked about the subject on Monday, he called Ms. Bondi “beyond reproach” and said that he “never spoke to her about that at all.”
A spokesman for the Florida attorney general’s office, Gerald Whitney Ray, said the office’s inquiry never came across Ms. Bondi’s desk: Lower-level staff members made the decision not to proceed with an investigation of their own. Mr. Ray also said the office never gave any thought to joining in the New York attorney general’s case.
Democrats and liberal watchdogs seized the opportunity to accuse Mr. Trump of practicing exactly the sort of corrupt politics that he rails against on the campaign trail.
Campaigning in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton demanded details of the conversation in which Ms. Bondi solicited Mr. Trump’s donation. “The American people deserve to know what was said, because clearly the attorney general did not proceed with the investigation,” she told reporters.
And Jordan Libowitz, a spokesman for the liberal-leaning Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said Mr. Trump’s donation to Ms. Bondi gave new meaning to his more recent boasts about the efficacy of his political giving. “It sure looks like that is what is going on here,” said Mr. Libowitz, whose group filed a complaint about the donation with the I.R.S.
Though Mr. Trump denies it in the case of Ms. Bondi, he has been brazen in asserting that he has used political donations to buy influence — and routinely asks voters to trust that, because he possesses that insider’s knowledge, he can reform a system that he calls “rigged.”
During a Republican debate last summer, Mr. Trump responded about his ability to curry favor with public officials when he was confronted with one of his own statements: “When you give, they do whatever the hell you want them to do.”
“You’d better believe it,” Mr. Trump responded. He added: “When they call, I give. And you know what? When I need something from them two years later, three years later, I call them, they are there for me.”
Indeed, Mr. Trump’s history of political giving stretches back decades — and has repeatedly drawn regulatory scrutiny.
When a New York State commission investigated contributions to state and local officials in the 1980s, it subpoenaed Mr. Trump, who had contributed $150,000 to candidates in 1985. Under oath, he said he had circumvented the state’s $50,000 individual and $5,000 corporate contribution limits by disbursing his contributions to Mr. Stein, the city councilman, through 18 subsidiary companies.
“My attorneys basically said that this was a proper way of doing it,” Mr. Trump testified.
In an interview, Mr. Stein said he did not recall what Mr. Trump had sought in return for his contributions, or for a $50,000 campaign loan that Mr. Trump first guaranteed and then repaid. He denied ever agreeing to do Mr. Trump any favors.
Years later, Mr. Trump came under fire from the Federal Election Commission for violating a $25,000 annual limit on contributions in the late 1980s. Mr. Trump resisted paying a fine, insisting that he had been unaware of the federal limit and that, once informed of it, he sought refunds.
Only when the commission threatened to take him to court did Mr. Trump agree to a $15,000 civil penalty, records show.
“We were going to fight it, but it would have cost more money than the settlement,” Mr. Trump said at the time.
It was with similar reluctance that in 2000, Mr. Trump apologized for failing to disclose to New York State officials that he had spent $150,000 to finance ads opposing a proposed casino in the Catskills, which he saw as a threat to his Atlantic City properties. The ads were created and placed by a political consultant, Roger Stone, and appeared under the name of a front group, the Institute for Law and Society.
A settlement led to what, at the time, was the largest penalty imposed by the state lobbying commission: Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts paid $50,000, and Mr. Stone and the front group each paid $100,000, without admitting wrongdoing. In a statement, all three said they “apologize if anyone was misled.”
In recent years, Mr. Trump has made tens of thousands of dollars in contributions to at least four state attorneys general — Ms. Bondi of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas, both Republicans, and the Democrats Eric Schneiderman of New York and Kamala Harris of California — whose offices have looked into complaints about Trump University.
Mr. Abbott, whose office considered a lawsuit against Trump University before the company left Texas in 2010, is now supporting Mr. Trump — who donated $35,000 to Mr. Abbott’s successful 2014 campaign for governor.
Ms. Harris’s office said it, too, was investigating the company, and an aide said that she donated the $6,000 from Mr. Trump to charity.
Mr. Schneiderman’s fraud lawsuit is still pending. But Mr. Trump, whose donation of $12,500 to Mr. Schneiderman preceded his election, filed a state ethics complaint alleging that Mr. Schneiderman continued to seek donations, calling the fraud case a “shakedown.”
The state ethics panel declined last year to pursue Mr. Trump’s complaint.
oy ...such a crook!
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/07/us/politics/donald-trump-pam-bondi.html?_r=0
By STEVE EDER and MEGAN TWOHEYSEPT. 6, 2016
Donald J. Trump with Florida’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, before speaking at a campaign event in Tampa on Aug. 24.
Damon Winter/The New York Times
Mr. Trump and Ms. Bondi, who is supporting his campaign, have denied any connection between his donation and her office’s decision not to proceed with an investigation. Asked about the subject on Monday, he called Ms. Bondi “beyond reproach” and said that he “never spoke to her about that at all.”
A spokesman for the Florida attorney general’s office, Gerald Whitney Ray, said the office’s inquiry never came across Ms. Bondi’s desk: Lower-level staff members made the decision not to proceed with an investigation of their own. Mr. Ray also said the office never gave any thought to joining in the New York attorney general’s case.
Democrats and liberal watchdogs seized the opportunity to accuse Mr. Trump of practicing exactly the sort of corrupt politics that he rails against on the campaign trail.
Campaigning in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton demanded details of the conversation in which Ms. Bondi solicited Mr. Trump’s donation. “The American people deserve to know what was said, because clearly the attorney general did not proceed with the investigation,” she told reporters.
And Jordan Libowitz, a spokesman for the liberal-leaning Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said Mr. Trump’s donation to Ms. Bondi gave new meaning to his more recent boasts about the efficacy of his political giving. “It sure looks like that is what is going on here,” said Mr. Libowitz, whose group filed a complaint about the donation with the I.R.S.
Though Mr. Trump denies it in the case of Ms. Bondi, he has been brazen in asserting that he has used political donations to buy influence — and routinely asks voters to trust that, because he possesses that insider’s knowledge, he can reform a system that he calls “rigged.”
During a Republican debate last summer, Mr. Trump responded about his ability to curry favor with public officials when he was confronted with one of his own statements: “When you give, they do whatever the hell you want them to do.”
“You’d better believe it,” Mr. Trump responded. He added: “When they call, I give. And you know what? When I need something from them two years later, three years later, I call them, they are there for me.”
Indeed, Mr. Trump’s history of political giving stretches back decades — and has repeatedly drawn regulatory scrutiny.
When a New York State commission investigated contributions to state and local officials in the 1980s, it subpoenaed Mr. Trump, who had contributed $150,000 to candidates in 1985. Under oath, he said he had circumvented the state’s $50,000 individual and $5,000 corporate contribution limits by disbursing his contributions to Mr. Stein, the city councilman, through 18 subsidiary companies.
“My attorneys basically said that this was a proper way of doing it,” Mr. Trump testified.
In an interview, Mr. Stein said he did not recall what Mr. Trump had sought in return for his contributions, or for a $50,000 campaign loan that Mr. Trump first guaranteed and then repaid. He denied ever agreeing to do Mr. Trump any favors.
Years later, Mr. Trump came under fire from the Federal Election Commission for violating a $25,000 annual limit on contributions in the late 1980s. Mr. Trump resisted paying a fine, insisting that he had been unaware of the federal limit and that, once informed of it, he sought refunds.
Only when the commission threatened to take him to court did Mr. Trump agree to a $15,000 civil penalty, records show.
“We were going to fight it, but it would have cost more money than the settlement,” Mr. Trump said at the time.
It was with similar reluctance that in 2000, Mr. Trump apologized for failing to disclose to New York State officials that he had spent $150,000 to finance ads opposing a proposed casino in the Catskills, which he saw as a threat to his Atlantic City properties. The ads were created and placed by a political consultant, Roger Stone, and appeared under the name of a front group, the Institute for Law and Society.
A settlement led to what, at the time, was the largest penalty imposed by the state lobbying commission: Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts paid $50,000, and Mr. Stone and the front group each paid $100,000, without admitting wrongdoing. In a statement, all three said they “apologize if anyone was misled.”
In recent years, Mr. Trump has made tens of thousands of dollars in contributions to at least four state attorneys general — Ms. Bondi of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas, both Republicans, and the Democrats Eric Schneiderman of New York and Kamala Harris of California — whose offices have looked into complaints about Trump University.
Mr. Abbott, whose office considered a lawsuit against Trump University before the company left Texas in 2010, is now supporting Mr. Trump — who donated $35,000 to Mr. Abbott’s successful 2014 campaign for governor.
Ms. Harris’s office said it, too, was investigating the company, and an aide said that she donated the $6,000 from Mr. Trump to charity.
Mr. Schneiderman’s fraud lawsuit is still pending. But Mr. Trump, whose donation of $12,500 to Mr. Schneiderman preceded his election, filed a state ethics complaint alleging that Mr. Schneiderman continued to seek donations, calling the fraud case a “shakedown.”
The state ethics panel declined last year to pursue Mr. Trump’s complaint.
oy ...such a crook!
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/07/us/politics/donald-trump-pam-bondi.html?_r=0
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