Who is Pam Bondi, Trump’s nominee for attorney general? | Donald Trump News

United States President-elect Donald Trump has chosen another loyalist to be the next Attorney General after his first choice, former Congressman Matt Gaetz, withdrew from the race after days of controversy.

Trump announced Thursday that he is nominating Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, to be the state’s next attorney general.

“For a long time, the unified Justice Department intended for me and other Republicans – is gone. Pam will refocus the DOJ on its original mission of fighting crime, and making America Safe Again,” he said in a social media post.

He was appointed after Gaetz’s nomination was criticized by representatives of the main American political parties.

The Florida Republican has been the subject of a House of Representatives Ethics Committee investigation into alleged misconduct, including allegations that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl. He denied doing anything wrong.

Bondi’s nomination, which must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, has also sparked controversy with observers pointing to past conflicts, including a 2013 Trump Foundation donation to a political committee supporting him.

Here’s what you need to know about the nominee:

Who is Pam Bondi?

Bondi, 59, made history in 2010 when she was elected Florida’s first female attorney general, a position she held from 2011 to 2019.

A native of Tampa, he had spent more than 18 years as a prosecutor in the Hillsborough County District Attorney’s Office but was relatively unknown in national political circles when he was the state’s top US attorney.

During her time as Florida attorney general, Bondi has focused on human trafficking issues and urged strengthening the state’s anti-trafficking laws.

His resume contrasts with that of Gaetz, who has little traditional experience expected of an attorney general — a position that carries a lot of decision-making power about what cases to pursue and how to direct federal law enforcement.

The FBI; Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the US Marshals Service all answer to the attorney general. The attorney general also oversees district attorneys, known as US attorneys, throughout the country.

“He certainly qualifies for the position on paper,” David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor in Florida who now works as a defense attorney, told Reuters news agency.

“He spent his life prosecuting cases. He has a resume, compared to the last nominee.”

What is his relationship with Trump?

Bondi has been on Trump’s trail for years and was one of his earliest supporters, supporting the former president during his successful 2016 White House campaign.

He gained national attention by appearing on Fox News as a defender of Trump and had a notable speaking spot at the 2016 Republican National Convention, where he was the party’s nominee.

During his remarks, some in the crowd began chanting “Lock Him Up” about Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Bondi replied: “‘Lock him up,’ I like that.”

After Trump won the election, he served on his transition team before becoming a member of his Commission on Opioids and Drug Abuse during his first administration.

He was also part of Trump’s defense team during his first impeachment trial, where he was accused of pressuring Ukraine to conduct a corruption investigation into his rival, now President Joe Biden, by withholding military aid to the country.

Trump was acquitted by the US Senate.

What was the donation debate about?

Bondi personally solicited a 2013 political donation from Trump as his office considered whether to join New York in a lawsuit over alleged fraud involving Trump University, a for-profit educational venture.

The Trump Foundation donated $25,000 to a political committee that supports him, which would be a violation of the law banning charitable organizations that support political candidates.

When the donation made headlines in 2016, Bondi denied that the $25,000 from Trump was connected to his decision not to take action against Trump University, saying his office made all relevant documents public.

The Trump campaign attributed the failure to properly disclose the donation to “a series of unfortunate events and mistakes”.

Trump’s philanthropic foundation agreed to be dissolved in 2018 under court supervision after a New York attorney general’s lawsuit accused Trump of misusing the foundation to promote his 2016 presidential campaign and his businesses. The foundation was also ordered to pay a $2m fine.

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

What else should we know about Bondi?

Most recently, Bondi served as chairman of the Center for Litigation at the America First Policy Institute, a think tank established by Trump administration staff to lay the groundwork for a second term.

He has been critical of the criminal charges against the former president and Jack Smith, the special counsel who prosecuted Trump over his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election and the alleged mishandling of classified documents.

Bondi was among a group of lawyers to write a brief to defend Trump in the classified documents case, saying Smith was illegally appointed.

In another radio appearance, he also criticized Smith and other prosecutors who have sued Trump as “horrible” people who he accused of trying to make a name for themselves by “going after Donald Trump and weaponizing our legal system”.

In 2020, he again spread the “Big Lie” perpetuated by Trump and his allies that the election was stolen from him. “We won Pennsylvania, and we want every vote counted properly,” Bondi said at the time.