It was late 2013, and the air in Florida was thick with more than just humidity. A scandal was brewing that would tie together a future president, a high-profile state prosecutor, and a charitable organization in a way that honestly still gets people fired up today. You’ve probably heard snippets about the Pam Bondi Trump Foundation drama, but the actual timeline of how $25,000 moved from a charity to a political group—and the "clerical errors" that followed—is wilder than the headlines suggest.
Basically, it looks like a classic case of bad timing, or, if you ask critics like Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), something way more transactional.
The $25,000 Check and the "And Justice for All" PAC
Here is the gist. In September 2013, the Donald J. Trump Foundation cut a check for $25,000 to a political action committee (PAC) called "And Justice for All." This PAC was set up to support Pam Bondi’s re-election campaign as Florida’s Attorney General.
Now, if you aren't a tax law nerd, here’s why that matters: 501(c)(3) organizations (which the Trump Foundation was) are strictly, legally prohibited from making political contributions. It’s a hard line. You just don't do it.
The money didn't just appear out of thin air, though. Pam Bondi later admitted that she personally solicited the donation from Donald Trump. This was happening exactly when her office was being peppered with questions about whether Florida would join a massive New York lawsuit against Trump University.
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A Timeline of the "Coincidence"
To understand the heat, you have to look at the days, not the months.
- September 13, 2013: The Orlando Sentinel reports that Bondi’s office is "reviewing" the New York fraud allegations against Trump University to see if Florida should join the litigation.
- September 17, 2013: Just four days later, the Trump Foundation sends the $25,000 check to Bondi’s PAC.
- October 2013: Bondi’s office announces they won't be pursuing any legal action or joining the New York suit. They claimed there wasn't enough evidence, despite having received roughly 22 complaints from Floridians who felt they’d been scammed.
Coincidence? Trump and Bondi both said yes. Critics screamed "quid pro quo."
The Ghost Charity in Kansas
Things got even weirder when the tax forms came out. When the Trump Foundation filed its 2013 IRS paperwork, the $25,000 donation to Pam Bondi’s PAC wasn't listed.
Instead, the foundation told the IRS they had given $25,000 to a non-profit in Wichita, Kansas, called Justice for All.
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The problem? The Kansas group—which works on anti-abortion advocacy—said they never got a dime. They didn't even know why they were on the form.
When the Washington Post started digging into this in 2016, the Trump camp called it a massive "clerical error." They claimed a clerk at the Trump Organization saw a request from "And Justice for All" (the Bondi PAC) and accidentally cut the check from the Foundation account instead of Trump’s personal account. Then, they claimed the accounting firm saw the name and assumed it was the Kansas charity.
Fines and Fallout
Honestly, the IRS didn't buy the "whoops" defense as a total get-out-of-jail-free card. In 2016, Donald Trump had to pay a $2,500 excise tax fine for the illegal contribution. He also had to personally reimburse the foundation for the $25,000 that was sent to Bondi.
But that was just the tip of the iceberg for the foundation. By 2019, a New York judge ordered the Donald J. Trump Foundation to dissolve entirely. This followed a different lawsuit from the New York Attorney General (Barbara Underwood at the time) alleging a "shocking pattern of illegality" and self-dealing. Trump ended up paying $2 million in damages as part of that settlement.
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Why Does This Matter Now?
Because Pam Bondi didn't just fade away. She became one of Trump’s fiercest defenders during his first impeachment trial and eventually rose to become the United States Attorney General in 2025.
When people look back at the Pam Bondi Trump Foundation connection, they see a blueprint for how the two worked together. For some, it’s proof of a long-standing, loyal political alliance. For others, it’s the original sin of a relationship built on blurring the lines between charity, business, and law enforcement.
Key Takeaways from the Controversy:
- Private foundations cannot fund politics. Period. The IRS is very clear that charitable funds are for charity, not campaigns.
- Timing is everything in politics. Even if no "deal" was made, sending money while an investigation is pending creates a "perception" problem that is almost impossible to shake.
- Reporting matters. The fact that the donation was mislabeled as a gift to a Kansas charity is what turned a simple "oops" into a multi-year investigation.
What to Do Next
If you're tracking the history of ethics in US politics or looking into the backgrounds of high-level officials, keep an eye on IRS Form 990 filings. These are public records. You can use tools like ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer to look up any foundation and see where their money actually goes. Understanding the flow of "dark money" and PAC contributions is the best way to see past the talking points and look at the actual receipts.