Who is Pam Bondi, Trump’s new nominee for US attorney general?

United States President-elect Donald Trump has picked different loyalist to beryllium the adjacent lawyer wide aft his archetypal choice, firebrand former Congressman Matt Gaetz, withdrew from contention aft days of controversy.

Trump announced connected Thursday that helium was nominating Pam Bondi, a erstwhile Florida lawyer general, to beryllium the country’s adjacent apical national prosecutor.

“For excessively long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against maine and different Republicans – Not anymore. Pam volition refocus the DOJ to its intended intent of warring Crime, and Making America Safe Again,” helium said successful a societal media post.

He made the assignment aft Gaetz’s nomination drew disapproval from lawmakers successful some large US governmental parties.

The Florida Republican has been the taxable of a House of Representatives Ethics Committee investigation into amerciable activities, including allegations helium had enactment with an underage 17-year-old girl. He has denied wrongdoing.

Bondi’s nomination, which indispensable beryllium confirmed by the US Senate, has besides caused a disturbance with observers pointing to past controversies, including a 2013 Trump Foundation donation to a governmental enactment committee backing her.

Here’s what you request to cognize astir the nominee:

Who is Pam Bondi?

Bondi, 59, made past successful 2010 erstwhile she was elected arsenic Florida’s archetypal pistillate lawyer general, a presumption she held from 2011 to 2019.

A Tampa native, she had spent much than 18 years arsenic a authoritative successful the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office but was comparatively chartless successful nationalist governmental circles erstwhile she was the US state’s apical prosecutor.

In her clip arsenic Florida lawyer general, Bondi stressed quality trafficking issues and urged tightening authorities laws against traffickers.

Her resume contrasts with that of Gaetz, who has small of the accepted acquisition expected of an lawyer wide – a presumption that holds monolithic decision-making authorization implicit what cases to prosecute and however to nonstop national instrumentality enforcement.

The FBI; Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and US Marshals Service each reply to the lawyer general. The lawyer wide besides oversees determination national prosecutors, known arsenic US attorneys, crossed the country.

“She is surely qualified for the presumption connected paper,” David Weinstein, a erstwhile national authoritative successful Florida who present works arsenic a defence attorney, told the Reuters quality agency.

“She spent her beingness prosecuting cases. She has a resume, arsenic compared to the past nominee.”

Bondi speaks astatine a Trump run rally successful Greensboro, North Carolina, connected November 2, 2024, 3 days earlier Trump was re-elected [Sam Wolfe/Reuters]

What is her narration with Trump?

Bondi has been successful Trump’s orbit for years and was 1 of his earliest supporters, endorsing the erstwhile president during his palmy 2016 run for the White House.

She gained nationalist attraction with appearances connected Fox News arsenic a defender of Trump and had a notable speaking spot astatine the 2016 Republican National Convention, wherever helium became the party’s nominee.

During her remarks, immoderate successful the assemblage began chanting “Lock her up” astir Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Bondi responded: “‘Lock her up,’ I emotion that.”

After Trump won the election, she served connected his modulation squad earlier besides becoming a subordinate of his Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission during his archetypal administration.

She was besides portion of Trump’s defence squad during his first impeachment trial, successful which helium was accused of pressuring Ukraine to behaviour a corruption probe into his rival, now-President Joe Biden, by withholding subject assistance to the country.

Trump was acquitted by the US Senate.

Bondi sits adjacent to Trump arsenic helium speaks astir weapon information successful schools astatine the White House successful 2018 [Leah Millis/Reuters]

What was the donation contention about?

Bondi personally solicited a 2013 governmental publication from Trump arsenic her bureau was weighing whether to articulation New York successful suing implicit fraud allegations involving Trump University, a for-profit teaching business.

The Trump Foundation donated $25,000 to a governmental enactment committee backing her, a imaginable usurpation of a national prohibition connected charities aiding governmental candidates.

When the donation made headlines successful 2016, Bondi denied the $25,000 from Trump was connected to her determination not to prosecute enactment against Trump University, saying her bureau made each the applicable documents public.

Trump’s run attributed the nonaccomplishment to decently disclose the donation to a “series of unfortunate coincidences and errors”.

Trump’s namesake charitable instauration agreed to dissolve successful 2018 nether tribunal supervision aft a suit by New York’s lawyer wide accusing Trump of misusing the instauration to beforehand his 2016 statesmanlike run and his businesses. The instauration was besides ordered to wage a $2m fine.

After Bondi’s information was announced connected Thursday, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics successful Washington, a watchdog group, called on the Senate Judiciary Committee “to thoroughly analyse the Trump-Bondi scandal”.

What other should we cognize astir Bondi?

More recently, Bondi has served arsenic chairwoman of the Center for Litigation astatine the America First Policy Institute, a deliberation vessel acceptable up by erstwhile Trump medication staffers to laic the groundwork if helium won a 2nd term.

She has been a vocal professional of the transgression cases against the erstwhile president and of Jack Smith, the special counsel who pursued charges against Trump for his effort to overturn the 2020 predetermination results arsenic good arsenic his alleged mishandling of classified documents.

Bondi was among a radical of lawyers to draught an amicus little successful defence of Trump successful the classified documents case, claiming Smith had been unlawfully appointed.

In 1 vigor appearance, she besides blasted Smith and different prosecutors who person charged Trump arsenic “horrible” radical whom she accused of trying to marque names for themselves by “going aft Donald Trump and weaponising our ineligible system”.

In 2020, she besides dispersed the “Big Lie” pushed by Trump and his allies that the predetermination was stolen from him. “We’ve won Pennsylvania, and we privation each ballot to beryllium counted successful a just way,” Bondi said astatine the time.