WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump has tapped former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his choice for U.S. attorney general following Matt Gaetz’s withdrawal of his nomination.
Trump announced late Thursday that he would nominate Bondi to become the nation’s top law-enforcement officer, citing her work as a prosecutor.
“Pam was a prosecutor for nearly 20 years, where she was very tough on Violent Criminals, and made the streets safe for Florida Families,” he said in a statement.
“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.”
Bondi is likely to have an easier time winning Senate confirmation than Gaetz, who faced opposition from some Senate Republicans.
Bondi, 59, is a Trump ally who served as one of his defense attorneys during his first impeachment trial, when he was accused of abusing his power by withholding military aid from Ukraine to pressure Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to announce an investigation into a political rival, then-former Vice President Joe Biden. The Senate acquitted Trump of the charges.
Bondi also sat on Trump’s Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission during his first term in office and was a campaign surrogate during this year’s presidential contest.
She was one of a group of Republicans who attended his hush-money trial in New York earlier this year, showing her support for him.
Bondi served as the attorney general for Florida for eight years, from 2011 to 2019. She was the first woman elected to the position.
Over 100,000 workers cover a wide range of interests. The department prosecutes federal criminal laws through U.S attorneys offices and through its main headquarters and brings civil lawsuits to enforce civil rights and antitrust laws.
The department oversees agencies like the FBI; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Prisons.
“For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans – Not anymore,” Trump said in his statement.
“Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again.
I have known Pam for many years — She is smart and tough, and is an AMERICA FIRST Fighter, who will do a terrific job as Attorney General! “
“For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans – Not anymore,” Trump said in his statement.
“Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again. I have known Pam for many years — She is smart and tough, and is an AMERICA FIRST Fighter, who will do a terrific job as Attorney General!”
But the House Ethics Committee was investigating them and many other charges by a bipartisan panel with an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, which would have voted Thursday on whether to send out a report detailing its findings just two days after Matt Gaetz’s abrupt resignation from his House seat last week.
Did Matt Gaetz resign from Congress?What to know after he backs out of Trump’s AG role
A lawyer for two witnesses said his clients testified before the Ethics Committee about the allegations.
One said she saw Gaetz allegedly under the influence of drugs and sexually abusing the 17-year-old, though she said she did not think Gaetz knew the girl’s age.
Gaetz has denied the allegations. But he said he decided to withdraw his nomination because it had become a distraction for Trump’s transition team.
