Donald Trump donated roughly $140,000 to 12 people who were either state attorneys general or running for the office in the first 14 years of this decade, raising questions about his business dealings, according to a new report.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump's donations between 2001 and 2014 came when the recipients of them were making decisions that would have affected his business.
In a widely publicized case, Trump donated $25,000 to a political group with ties to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi when she was up for reelection in 2013. At the time, Bondi was contemplating investigating Trump University, which she ultimately did not do.
Trump gave money to state attorneys general prior to this century as well, but the Journal reports that overall totals were not available. Still, examples include a $15,000 contribution in 1985 to New York Attorney General Robert Abrams. Trump, notes the Journal, needed Abrams' sign-off on a real estate deal he was working on at the time.
In another case, Trump gave two donations to Eliot Spitzer, who served as New York's attorney general from 1999 to 2007. Both donations were returned because of the business relationship Spitzer's office had with Trump.
The Journal claims Trump and his children have donated money to California's attorney general as well, a state that is investigating Trump University for fraud.
Trump's foundation has come under fire as well, and the New York attorney general has ordered it to stop soliciting donations in the state.
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