Crooked Trump...
Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2016 6:12 pm
WASHINGTON — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has made Hillary Clinton's ethical issues a centerpiece of his campaign, is facing increasing scrutiny of his own actions.
A watchdog organization chaired by David Brock, who also founded the pro-Clinton political action committee Correct the Record, asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate a $25,000 donation from Trump's charitable foundation to a political organization supporting Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.
"The Trump Foundation's handling of this illegal political contribution reads like a checklist of tax violations," said Noah Bookbinder, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which filed the complaint. "The IRS must investigate."
Trump paid a $2,500 fine to the IRS because charitable foundations are not allowed to make political contributions under tax law.
The contribution came as Bondi was deciding whether to investigate allegations of fraud against Trump University. Bondi decided not to get involved against Trump shortly after getting the donation, which the Associated Press said she requested.
In her speech at the Republican National Convention in July, Bondi called Election Day "a day of reckoning for all those who have abused their power" and "the day when we the people will take back our government."
Clinton raised questions about the donation with reporters aboard her campaign plane on Tuesday.
"The American people deserve to know what was said, because clearly the attorney general did not proceed with the investigation," Clinton said, according to the Washington Post.
Questions also have been raised about Trump's $35,000 to the campaign of then-Texas Attorney Greg Abbott after the state dropped its own Trump University probe. Abbott is now the state's governor.
The donation was made more than three years after the probe, which led to Trump University ending operations in Texas. Abbott never was involved in the investigation, according to David Morales, the deputy attorney general at the time who oversaw the probe.
During the August 2015 Republican debate in Cleveland, Trump said that he contributed to politicians because they would respond in kind.
"When they call, I give," Trump said. "And do you know what? When I need something from them two years later, three years later, I call them, they are there for me."
While rejecting any allegations of wrongdoing on his part, Trump continued to attack "Crooked Hillary" because some donors to the Clinton Foundation got meetings with Clinton when she was secretary of state.
"Hillary Clinton was using the State Department to dole out special favors and access to her friends and donors," Trump said in North Carolina on Tuesday. "It's called pay-for-play."
On CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Gov. Chris Christie, a Trump supporter and head of his transition team, insisted there was no connection between Bondi's actions and the contribution.
"I can't believe that anyone would insult Pam Bondi that way," Christie said. "She's an outstanding attorney general who has been reelected by the people of Florida. She's somebody who has been an outstanding law enforcement officer and continues to be. And I can't imagine that Pam Bondi would ever make decisions on that basis."
At the same time, Christie said, "if you wrote your multimillion-dollar check to the Clinton Foundation, then you got a visit with the secretary of state."
The IRS penalty wasn't the first time Trump was fined for his political activities.
Trump and his allies paid $250,000 after failing to disclose their involvement in an ad campaign against a proposed St. Regis Mohawk casino in Monticello, N.Y. The effort was designed to protect Trump's casinos in Atlantic City.
A watchdog organization chaired by David Brock, who also founded the pro-Clinton political action committee Correct the Record, asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate a $25,000 donation from Trump's charitable foundation to a political organization supporting Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.
"The Trump Foundation's handling of this illegal political contribution reads like a checklist of tax violations," said Noah Bookbinder, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which filed the complaint. "The IRS must investigate."
Trump paid a $2,500 fine to the IRS because charitable foundations are not allowed to make political contributions under tax law.
The contribution came as Bondi was deciding whether to investigate allegations of fraud against Trump University. Bondi decided not to get involved against Trump shortly after getting the donation, which the Associated Press said she requested.
In her speech at the Republican National Convention in July, Bondi called Election Day "a day of reckoning for all those who have abused their power" and "the day when we the people will take back our government."
Clinton raised questions about the donation with reporters aboard her campaign plane on Tuesday.
"The American people deserve to know what was said, because clearly the attorney general did not proceed with the investigation," Clinton said, according to the Washington Post.
Questions also have been raised about Trump's $35,000 to the campaign of then-Texas Attorney Greg Abbott after the state dropped its own Trump University probe. Abbott is now the state's governor.
The donation was made more than three years after the probe, which led to Trump University ending operations in Texas. Abbott never was involved in the investigation, according to David Morales, the deputy attorney general at the time who oversaw the probe.
During the August 2015 Republican debate in Cleveland, Trump said that he contributed to politicians because they would respond in kind.
"When they call, I give," Trump said. "And do you know what? When I need something from them two years later, three years later, I call them, they are there for me."
While rejecting any allegations of wrongdoing on his part, Trump continued to attack "Crooked Hillary" because some donors to the Clinton Foundation got meetings with Clinton when she was secretary of state.
"Hillary Clinton was using the State Department to dole out special favors and access to her friends and donors," Trump said in North Carolina on Tuesday. "It's called pay-for-play."
On CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Gov. Chris Christie, a Trump supporter and head of his transition team, insisted there was no connection between Bondi's actions and the contribution.
"I can't believe that anyone would insult Pam Bondi that way," Christie said. "She's an outstanding attorney general who has been reelected by the people of Florida. She's somebody who has been an outstanding law enforcement officer and continues to be. And I can't imagine that Pam Bondi would ever make decisions on that basis."
At the same time, Christie said, "if you wrote your multimillion-dollar check to the Clinton Foundation, then you got a visit with the secretary of state."
The IRS penalty wasn't the first time Trump was fined for his political activities.
Trump and his allies paid $250,000 after failing to disclose their involvement in an ad campaign against a proposed St. Regis Mohawk casino in Monticello, N.Y. The effort was designed to protect Trump's casinos in Atlantic City.