Story from the A.P. Donald Drumpf bribed A.G.s in Florida and Texas to not sue Trump U. leaving many to fight on their own to get refunds.
Florida's attorney general personally solicited a political contribution from Donald Trump around the same time her office deliberated joining an investigation of alleged fraud at Trump University and its affiliates
The new disclosure from Attorney General Pam Bondi's spokesman to The Associated Press on Monday provides additional details around the unusual circumstances of Trump's $25,000 donation to Bondi.
The money came from a Trump family foundation in apparent violation of rules surrounding political activities by charities. A political group backing Bondi's re-election, called And Justice for All, reported receiving the check Sept. 17, 2013 — four days after Bondi's office publicly announced she was considering joining a New York state probe of Trump University's activities, according to a 2013 report in the Orlando Sentinel.
After the check came in, Bondi's office nixed suing Trump, citing insufficient grounds to proceed.
His daughter, Ivanka Trump, also gave a $500 check to Bondi a week before her father's money came in, as well as another $25,000 to the Republican Party of Florida the following year.
All told, more than 20 people requested help from the Florida attorney general's office in obtaining refunds from Trump University and affiliates, with Bondi's predecessor receiving numerous other complaints about the seminar company Trump partnered with. Many of the Trump-related consumers alleged that they paid money for training materials and personalized instruction which were never delivered.
The documents complicate prior claims by Bondi's office that she received only one consumer complaint about Trump University at the time that she decided not to join the New York investigation.
Bondi was not the only GOP attorney general to shy away from suing Trump.
The Associated Press first reported last week that then-Texas Attorney Greg Abbott received $35,000 from Trump, three years after his office in 2010 dropped a proposed lawsuit over Trump U. Following AP's report, former Texas Deputy Chief of Consumer Protection John Owens said the case had been dropped for political reasons. He also made public a detailed internal summary of what he called his staff's strong case against Trump.
Both Bondi and Abbott have now endorsed Trump for president.