BRIBERY

     The standard Federal bribery law (18 U.S.C. 201) is most concerned with the bribery of federal officials. That particular statute might be unavailable to prosecute Trump for bribing a Florida state official. But see, Dixson v. United States, 465 U.S. 482 (1984). However, 18 U.S.C. § 666 is available because it specifically deals with state officials, as long as the state official works for a state agency or division of government that accepts at least $10,000.00 or more in Federal grant, loan, contract or insurance funds.
     The penalty for a violation of this act could include a fine and up to ten years of prison. Campaign donations are especially ripe for corruption, but they also raise a free speech issue, so Federal appellate courts have recently narrowed the scope of bribery official acts and what is needed to prove corrupt intent.
     In McDonnell v. United States, 579 U.S. ____ (2016), the Supreme Court held that a public official can make a phone call or set up meetings for a constituent without it amounting to bribery. This is distinguishable from the facts in the Trump case because deciding whether or not to pursue criminal charges is possibly the most important official act an attorney general can take.
     In McCormick v. United States, 500 U.S. 257 (1991), the Supreme Court held that there must be proof of an agreement for a quid pro quo. This was an extortion case brought under the Hobbs Act, so it may not be as relevant as Trump attorneys would like.

Of Special Interest …

     Nobody has filed criminal charges against Trump or Bondi (or Greg Abbott, who received a similar donation from Trump and later decided not to pursue charges against Trump University). However, there has been some action:

In September 2016, the IRS concluded that the donation to Bondi's PAC violated laws against political contributions from nonprofit organizations, and ordered Donald Trump to pay a fine for the illegal contribution. Trump also reimbursed the foundation the sum that had been donated to Bondi. Neither Bondi nor her PAC were fined or criminally charged for soliciting and accepting an illegal donation. 

     Bondi was term-limited out from running again for Florida Attorney General, but she curiously did not seek any other elected office. In August of this year, Bondi hosted the Fox News show The Five for three days. Fox claimed that they received pre-approval from a Florida Commission on Ethics, but a spokesperson for the Commission said that "no opinion was rendered."