Pam Bondi, Donald Trump’s second nominee for U.S. Attorney General, meets many of the qualifications the president-elect seems to value most in selecting his Cabinet.
-She’s not an “establishment” favorite. It’s unlikely any other president would’ve had the former two-term Florida attorney general on a short list to be the nation’s chief law enforcement officer.
-She’s a frequent guest on Fox News Channel, where she regularly parrots Trump talking points.
-Most importantly, she’s fervently loyal to the commander-in-chief-to-be. Their relationship goes back years, even before Trump entered the political fray. And it may be the one thing that stands between Bondi and confirmation, although most political observers expect her to survive the process.
“She is certainly qualified for the position on paper,” David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor in Florida who now works as a defense attorney with Jones Walker, told Reuters.
“She spent her life prosecuting cases. She has a résumé, as compared to the last nominee.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will decide whether to confirm Bondi, predicted smooth sailing.
“Picking Pam Bondi for Attorney General is a grand slam, touchdown, hole in one, ace, hat trick, slam dunk, Olympic gold medal pick,” he wrote on X.
CNN’s Ana Navaro was a bit less sanguine, calling Bondi “a mainstream Republican gone MAGA.”
“And she hasn’t committed statutory rape or been accused of it,” Navarro noted. “She hasn’t been accused of sexual assault. She hasn’t sawed the head off a whale or stabbed a dead bear cub. So, all in all, I’d say she’s one of the better picks.”
The president-elect announced the new nominee just hours after his top pick, former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration.
“Pam was a prosecutor for nearly 20 years, where she was very tough on Violent Criminals, and made the streets safe for Florida Families,” Trump posted on TruthSocial. “Then, as Florida’s first female Attorney General, she worked to stop the trafficking of deadly drugs, and reduce the tragedy of Fentanyl Overdose Deaths, which have destroyed many families across our Country. She did such an incredible job, that I asked her to serve on our Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission during my first Term — We saved many lives!”
Trump said Bondi would “refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again,” putting a stop to what he claims are politically motived prosecutions against himself and his allies.
It wouldn’t be the first time. In 2013, Trump’s namesake for-profit university, which claimed to teach real estate secrets to students, was under investigation for suspected fraud by the attorneys general of New York, Texas and Florida.
Only New York would follow through with criminal charges. Bondi not only declined to prosecute Trump University but personally solicited a donation from “The Apprentice” star while the investigation was still underway. Trump responded with a $25,000 donation; Bondi denied any quid pro quo. Her spokesperson told CNN that New York’s prosecution “would provide relief to aggrieved consumers nationwide,” making a Florida prosecution unnecessary.
In 2016, she was the only Florida officeholder to support Trump’s candidacy. After completing her run as the state’s attorney general, she went to work for Trump, joining his defense team for the president’s first impeachment trial and remaining through the 2020 election.
Bondi was among those who repeated the “big lie” that voter fraud put Joe Biden into office. Most recently, she joined the conservative think tank America First Policy Institute, where she served between Fox News appearances as the chair for the Center for Litigation and co-chair of the Center for Law and Justice.
