Trump University (TU) operated as a real estate training program from 2005–2010. Despite the name, it wasn’t actually a college or university. TU offered three to five-day seminars using high-pressure techniques to sell them as a way to get rich like Trump. After course completion, you didn’t get grades, college credits, or degrees; you got fleeced, receiving little not offered for free by major real estate brokers to their independent contractors.
In 2011, the company became the subject of an inquiry by the New York Attorney General’s office for illegal business practices, which resulted in a lawsuit filed in August 2013. The National Review called the organization a “massive scam.” Trump University was also the subject of two class actions in federal court. The lawsuits centered around allegations that Trump University defrauded its students by using misleading marketing practices and engaging in aggressive sales tactics. After being elected president, Trump settled all three lawsuits in November 2016 for $25 million.
New York wasn’t the only state to notice that Trump University was a fraudulent enterprise. Texas investigated TU in 2010 but failed to take action. Six years later, we learned that Trump gave $35,000 to the gubernatorial campaign of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who dropped the suit after TU shut down its Texas Operations.
Pam Bondi was the Attorney General in Florida under Governor Rick Scott. Bondi announced in September 2013 that she was considering joining the New York lawsuit against Trump University. Four days later, the Donald J. Trump Foundation donated $25,000 to “And Justice for All,” a 527 group supporting Bondi’s reelection campaign. After that, Bondi declined to join New York. According to a spokesman, Bondi personally solicited the donation from Trump several weeks before her office announced that it was considering joining the lawsuit.
In March 2016, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the IRS about the potentially illegal donation. In September 2016, it was concluded that the donation violated laws against political contributions from nonprofit organizations. Trump reimbursed the foundation with his own money and paid the IRS a $2,500 excise tax as a penalty. Trump denied the donation was connected to the Trump University lawsuit, saying it was for Bondi’s performance as Attorney General.
I wonder if Bondi felt she’d been bought cheap when it emerged that Greg Abbott received a $35,000 donation for dropping the case. After all, she had only received $25,000 herself. Bondi continued her ties with Trump, joining his defense team during the first impeachment inquiry. Bondi appeared with Trump on the 2024 campaign trail and worked on several cases involving Trump issues as co-chair of the law and justice division at the pro-Trump America First Policy Institute.
Bondi has spent years as a vocal Trump supporter, repeating Trump's lies and never finding a policy she couldn’t support. As Trump’s replacement nominee for Attorney General, she’ll be certain never to draw the lines that Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr ultimately drew when Trump demanded they ignore the law and the Constitution.
Pam Bondi already showed us who she is when she accepted a $25,000 donation to drop a case against Trump. The only discussion now will be her price for future transactions as the US Attorney General.
This article originally appeared on Substack and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of William Spivey's work on Substack.