Is Pam Bondi part of Trump-Cohen tape?
Was Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi the “Pam” that Donald Trump was talking to at the beginning of a tape secretly recorded by Trump’s attorney? Bondi doesn’t think so.
The recording, made by attorney Michael Cohen of his then-client Trump and first reported by CNN, begins with one side of a conversation Trump is having on the phone about a situation he describes as “such bull----” and that he thinks “goes away quickly.”
No specific date in September 2016 was given for when the tape was made. But that month, Trump and Bondi were dealing with the fallout from stories about a $25,000 contribution from the Trump Foundation to Bondi in 2013.
The Washington Post transcript, initially provided by Trump’s legal team “but edited to more accurately reflect CNN's audio,” lists a word Trump says at the end of the call as “unintelligible,” though an earlier version transcribed it as “Thanks, babe.”
But when listening to the tape, it sounds like Trump is saying, “Thanks, Pam.”
The Orlando Sentinel reported on Sept. 6, 2016, that despite complaints, Bondi’s office decided not to investigate Trump University shortly after the contribution, for which Trump later had to pay a $2,500 fine. Here’s the transcript: “TRUMP: [In background] Good. Let me know what’s happening, okay? Oh, oh. Maybe because of this it would be better if you didn’t go, you know? Maybe because of this. For that one, you know — I think what you should do is get rid of this. Because it’s so false what they’re saying, it’s such bulls---. Um. [PAUSE] I think, I think this goes away quickly. I think what — I think it’s probably better to do the Charleston thing, just this time. Uh, yeah. In two weeks, it’s fine. I think right now it’s, it’s better. You know? Okay, hun. You take care of yourself. Thanks, [Unintelligible]. Yup, I’m proud of you. So long. Bye.”
Marc Caputo of Politico reported on Twitter on Wednesday that Bondi doesn’t remember the call and didn’t think it was her.
“I spoke to the president frequently,” she told Caputo. “But I don’t think it’s me. At the time of this, he would call me ‘Pamela,’ not Pam. And he wouldn’t have mentioned an out-of-state event with me because I did events in Florida.”
A private fundraiser with South Carolina Trump donors was scheduled for Sept. 27, 2016, in Charleston, but was rescheduled on Sept. 19 to be held in Charlotte, N.C., the same day as a Trump rally.
The phone conversation appeared unconnected to the discussion later on the tape in which Cohen and Trump allegedly discuss a payoff to model Karen McDougal.