Page 11 - Florida Sentinel 9-9-16 Online Edition

Campaign News
Trump Held Fundraiser For Pam Bondi At His Palm Beach Mansion After She Passed On Lawsuit
WASHINGTON ― In March 2014, Donald Trump opened his 126-room Palm Beach mansion, Mar-a-Lago, for a $3,000-per-person fundraiser for Pam Bondi, the Florida Attorney General who had recently decided not to join a lawsuit against Trump University and was facing a tough reelection cam- paign.
Trump did not write a check to the attorney general that night. The previous fall, his personal foundation had given $25,000 to a pro-Bondi PAC. But by hosting her fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago and bringing in some of his own star power, Trump provided Bondi’s campaign with a nice financial boost.
Since he began his run for the White House, Trump has repeatedly claimed that Bondi is merely someone he has supported politically. But his fundraising efforts for her were extensive and varied: In addition to the $25,000 dona- tion from his foundation and the star-studded Mar-a-Lago event, Trump and his daugh- ter Ivanka each gave $500 to
PAM BONDI AND DONALD TRUMP
Bondi’s campaign in the fall of 2013. The following spring, Ivanka and her father do- nated another $125,000 to the Republican Party of Florida ― Bondi’s single biggest source of campaign funds.
All this money created the appearance that Donald Trump was thanking Bondi for halting any further investi- gation into his failed seminar programs. Trump’s efforts to boost her politically came dur- ing and after a period when Bondi was under pressure to pursue allegations that those seminars were defrauding consumers.
The use of Mar-a-Lago alone was a donation of some value. Space at the resort is ex- pensive to rent, and Trump
has charged his own presiden- tial campaign roughly $140,000 per event for use of the mansion.
Trump’s courtship of Bondi, including the Mar-a- Lago event, could complicate a line of attack his campaign is currently making against Hillary Clinton. Trump and his surrogates have at- tacked Clinton’s family foun- dation for accepting donations from governments and indi- viduals with business before the State Department during her tenure there. They have suggested that, in turn, those donors were given special ac- cess to then-Secretary of State Clinton and her staff.
Clinton and her aides have denied that charge and re- sponded by arguing that Trump has used his money to influence politicians ― an ac- cusation that he hasn’t always denied.
“I’ve got to give [campaign contributions] to them, be- cause when I want something, I get it,” he said in Janu- ary. “When I call, they kiss my ass. It’s true. They kiss my ass. It’s true.”
President Obama: Trump's 'Wacky Ideas' Should Be Challenged
Vientiane, Laos --- Presi- dent Barack Obama warned Thursday against becoming immune to Donald Trump's more outlandish statements, arguing that the stakes of the U. S. presidential contest were too high for Americans to tune out.
"People start thinking be- havior that in normal times we would consider completely un- acceptable and outrageous be- comes normalized," President Obama said dur- ing a news conference at the tail end of his visit to Laos.
"People start thinking that we should be grading on a curve," he said. "But I can tell you from the interactions I have had over the last eight or nine days with foreign leaders that this is serious business." President Obama: 10 Nations Of ASEAN Are Critical To Peace
President Obama has re- peatedly warned against the perils of the Trump presi- dency, suggesting the Republi- can nominee would be woefully unprepared to take office should he win in Novem- ber.
When he's abroad, Presi- dent Obama has relayed fears from foreign leaders, who he says question him often about the state of the U. S. presidential contest.
"You actually have to know what you are talking about and you actually have to have done your homework," President Obama said Thursday. "When you speak, it should actually reflect thought-out policy you
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
can implement."
President Obama: 'Wacky
Ideas' Should Be Challenged President Obama was speaking just before boarding Air Force One for a long return
journey to Washington. Clinton walks tightrope on President Obama foreign
policy 03:00
One of his first events when
he returns is a solo campaign stop for Hillary Clinton, the second time he's hit the cam- paign trail for the Democratic candidate.
President Obama de- clared last month that Trump was unqualified to succeed him as commander in chief, and re- iterated his view Thursday.
"Every time he speaks that opinion is confirmed," Presi- dent Obama said.
"I think the most important thing for the public and the press is to just listen to what he says and follow-up and ask questions about what appear to be either contradictory or uninformed or outright wacky ideas."
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 , 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 11-A