November 21, 2024
Who is Pam Bondi.
President elect Trump just nominated her to be the next attorney general of the United States. So again – you’re probably wondering – who is she?
Well – first – her nomination came after former representative Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from the nomination this morning.
You may not know her name – but she’s been around the Trump orbit for years and is a staunch ally of trump’s.
You should know — she’s an actual lawyer – she currently serves as the chair of the legal arm of America First Policy Institute – a Trump-aligned group that has drafted policy recommendations for the next Trump administration. But before that she was a local prosecutor in Florida and then eventually served as the state’s attorney general– in fact she was the first woman to hold that job. She served two terms. When she was AG she really focused on Florida’s opioid crisis and she advocated for the first step act — which helps formerly incarcerated inmates re-enter society safely and prevents recidivism. But she also signed onto lawsuits to challenge then President Obama’s DACA program and she joined lawsuits to overturn the affordable care act.
But her ties to Trump go back for years. She helped defend Trump during both of his impeachment trials. She has been a very visible – on tv supporting him over the years and oversaw many of his voting-related lawsuits in the battleground states pushing that trump won the 2020 election.
But when she was Florida AG Bondi was caught up in a controversy involving Trump when it was discovered that she took a $25,000 campaign donation from the Trump foundation in 2013 while there were multiple fraud claims against Trump University from several Floridians who were victims. After the donation, Bondi decided not to get the state of Florida involved in any lawsuit against Trump University. In the end the IRS fined trump for making an illegal campaign contribution to Bondi.
Now – just like every other cabinet member, Bondi will go through the Senate confirmation process. All the vetting is going to happen it’s all going to be public. But it’s very likely Pam Bondi will get the votes she needs in the Senate to be the next attorney general.
