
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi dropped a probe of Trump University after an illegal political donation. Now Trump is giving her a job, too.

This week, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is starting a new job on Donald Trump's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis.

Trump had first floated Bondi's name for the job in January and formally appointed her in March, but now she will be officially assuming her duties after a lengthy delay.

But the appointment remains fraught with controversy, due to the suspicious financial and legal relationship between Trump and Bondi.


Last year, during the presidential election, Bondi received close scrutiny relating to a $25,000 payment in 2013.

The payment, donated to the pro-Bondi "And Justice For All" PAC by the Donald J. Trump Foundation, came two months before Bondi announced her office would not pursue a proposed investigation of Trump's fake university.

Trump openly admitted to talking about the donation with Bondi, even while denying it was to discourage her from investigating Trump University.

Regardless of whether or not there was a direct quid pro quo, the payment itself was illegally written off Trump's taxes by being routed through a charitable foundation, which prompted a fine from the IRS.

Roughly 7,000 people were scammed out of their life savings by Trump University, including single mothers and veterans. Trump ended up settling related lawsuits for $25 million.

Bondi is not the only state prosecutor on the receiving end of Trump University-related favors. Three years before the Bondi payment, then-Attorney General of Texas Greg Abbott gave Trump University a slap on the wrist, dropping a state investigation and a potential $5.4 million civil action in return for Trump agreeing to stop operating in Texas. Trump shortly thereafter donated $35,000 to Abbott's run for governor. Abbott's successor as attorney general later tried to silence a whistleblower who called the agreement "political."

The Bondi appointment is another reminder that Trump has a permanent mindset of rewarding his cronies and crushing people critical of him. This is a dangerous way for a president to operate, and spells only trouble for our country.