Dems to DOJ: Investigate Trump bribery claims

The Department of Justice (DOJ) should investigate bribery allegations against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, Democrats charged Tuesday in a letter to the attorney general.

{mosads}More than a dozen Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee expressed frustration over reports that Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R) declined to investigate Trump University following a $25,000 campaign donation from the Donald J. Trump Foundation in 2013.

In a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, the Judiciary Democrats urge the DOJ to look into the circumstances surrounding the donation. 

“We write to ask that you investigate allegations of criminal misconduct surrounding the $25,000 donation from the Donald J. Trump Foundation to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi,” the lawmakers wrote. “These payments may have influenced Mrs. Bondi’s official decision not to participate in litigation against Mr. Trump.”

Trump University, a real estate school that went out of business following allegations that it defrauded students, is at the center of the scandal. It faced intense scrutiny after a judge released documents that reveal details of how the school was run, such as instructors encouraging prospective students to max out credit cards in order to pay as much as $35,000 for real estate classes.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman had launched an investigation into Trump University in 2013, and Bondi was deciding whether to join at the time of the donation.

According to The Associated Press, Bondi solicited Trump for a campaign donation, which the Trump Foundation paid to her political action committee, Justice For All.

Shortly after, Bondi declined to join the investigation into Trump University.

Trump later paid an Internal Revenue Service penalty over the matter, but the Democratic lawmakers say their “concerns extend beyond Mr. Trump’s violations of tax laws.”