Trump donated to attorneys general who dropped Trump U. inquiries: report

by Harper Neidig - 06/02/16 7:33 PM ET

Attorneys general in Florida and Texas who declined to pursue lawsuits against the now-defunct Trump University received political contributions from Donald Trump, according to an Associated Press report.

{mosads}Trump donated $35,000 to the successful gubernatorial campaign of then-Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott three years after a probe into the university’s “possibly deceptive trade practices” was dropped by his office when the university agreed to cease its Texas operations.

Abbott’s office pushed back against the report in a statement to The Hill on Friday, saying that the then-attorney general was just doing his job.

“The unthinkable has happened – the media’s obsession with Donald Trump is now leading them to highlight the job then-Attorney General Abbott did in protecting Texas consumers,” said Abbott spokesman Matt Hirsch.

And a political fundraising committee supporting Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi received a $25,000 donation from the Donald J. Trump Foundation just days after her office had announced it was looking into joining a multi-state lawsuit against Trump University. Her office later dropped the inquiry, citing a lack of evidence.

The school has received intense scrutiny this week after a judge released Trump University documents that reveal details of how the school was run, such as instructors encouraging poor prospective students to max out credit cards in order to pay as much as $35,000 for real estate classes.

Updated at 12:25 p.m.

Tags Donald Trump