Fundraising controversies[edit]
Bondi was criticized for some of her election fundraising activities, including contributions received from Donald Trump and his associates.[19] The Florida Attorney General's office received at least 22 fraud complaints about Trump University. In 2013, a spokesperson for Bondi announced that her office was considering joining a lawsuit initiated by New York's Attorney General against Trump regarding tax fraud.[20][21] Four days later, 'And Justice for All', a political action committee (PAC) established by Bondi to support her re-election campaign, received a $25,000 donation from the Donald J. Trump Foundation, after which Bondi declined to join the lawsuit against Trump University. When controversy over their actions first arose in 2013, both the Bondi PAC and Donald Trump defended the propriety of the nonprofit foundation's political donation.[22][23]
By contrast in March 2016, after Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service about the illegal donation, the Trump Foundation stated that the donation had been made in error. It said that the Foundation had intended for the donation to go not to Bondi's PAC but instead to an unrelated Kansas non-profit called Justice for All.[24][25] However, in June 2016, as Bondi was facing renewed criticism over the Trump donation and her decision not to join the lawsuit, her spokesman said that Bondi had solicited the donation directly from Trump several weeks before her office announced it was considering joining the lawsuit against him.[21][26][27] Bondi and Trump did not reconcile their competing versions of events. On March 14, 2016, Bondi endorsed Trump in the Florida presidential primary, saying she has been friends with Trump "for many years."[28][29] In June 2016, a spokesperson for Governor Rick Scott stated that the state's ethics commission is looking into the matter.[30] Nothing further came from that investigation. In September 2016, the IRS determined that the donation to Bondi's PAC violated laws against political contributions from nonprofit organizations, and ordered Trump to pay a fine for the illegal contribution. Trump also was required to reimburse the foundation for the sum that had been donated to Bondi.[31] Neither Bondi nor her PAC were fined or criminally charged for soliciting and accepting an illegal donation. In November 2019, Trump was ordered by a New York state court to close down the foundation and pay $2 million in damages for misusing it, including the illegal payment to Bondi.[32]
Bondi also pressured two attorneys to resign who were investigating the technology giant Black Knight, then LPS, following the robosigning scandal, as part of their work for Florida's Economic Crime Division, after she received large campaign contributions from LPS.[33]
Bondi's association with Scientology and the multiple fundraisers that wealthy Scientologists have organized for Bondi's political campaigns over the years have also provoked controversy. Bondi has justified those contacts and her speeches before leading Scientologists by arguing that the group wishes to help her crack down on human trafficking. However her public association with Scientology began in 2010, when it was already being investigated by the FBI for involvement in human trafficking and abusing its workers.[34][35][36]
Work for Donald Trump[edit]
In 2016, Bondi gave a speech at the Republican National Convention during which she led "Lock Her Up" chants directed at the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.[37] In 2019, after leaving the Attorney General's office, Bondi was hired by Ballard Partners, a firm with close ties to Donald Trump, and she began working as a registered lobbyist for Qatar. In November 2019, she was hired by the Trump administration with "special government employee" status to help the White House in messaging during the president's battle against impeachment.[38][39][40] Her job was described the following month as being to "attack the process" of the impeachment inquiry.[41] On January 17, 2020, Bondi was named as part of Trump's defense team for the Senate impeachment trial.[42]
