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

Trump made the announcement in a Thursday social media post.

“For too long, the partisan Justice Department has been weaponized against me and other Republicans — No more,” Trump wrote. “Pam will refocus DOJ on its goal of fighting crime and making America safe again. I have known Pam for many years – She is smart and tough and an AMERICA FIRST Fighter who will do a great job as Attorney General!”

Unlike Gaetz, who has faced sex-trafficking allegations, Bondi, 59, is a far less controversial nomination. Although Gaetz had no prosecution experience, Bondi served 18 years as a prosecutor in Hillsborough County, Florida, before being elected Florida’s first female attorney general in 2010.

During her tenure, Bondi began a lawsuit trying to weaken the Affordable Care Act, but her initiative failed. She served as Florida Attorney General for eight years.

Notably, Bondi failed to file a lawsuit against Trump in 2013 after her office received nearly two dozen complaints involving his Trump University.

Bondi then received a $25,000 donation to her PAC from a Trump-funded nonprofit. Three years later, the president-elect was ordered to pay a $2,500 fine for violating federal tax laws when making the contribution.

After leaving office in 2018, Bondi continued to serve as president of America First Policy, a Trump-aligned conservative think tank.

Bondi also joined Trump’s defense team when he was first impeached. She accused President Joe Biden, a private citizen at the time, of being involved in corrupt foreign dealings with his son, Hunter Biden. She said the president had threatened to withdraw aid to Ukraine if the government did not remove a Ukrainian prosecutor investigating the company his son was associated with. This has become a key aspect of Trump’s impeachment process.

Before being hired by Trump’s defense team in 2020, Bondi was a registered lobbyist for the government of Qatar. She worked for Ballard Partners, which is run by Brian Ballard, who has close fundraising ties to Trump.

One of Ballard Partners’ clients, Halkbank, was accused of violating Iraq sanctions just a month before Bondi joined the impeachment proceedings.

Those allegations against Joe Biden never led to criminal charges, but they bolstered Bondi’s position in Trumpworld, and she spoke during the 2020 Republican National Convention.

In addition to championing the interests of foreign governments, Bondi has lobbied for the interests of Amazon, General Motors and Uber.

When Trump made allegations of voter fraud, Bondi amplified them. She appeared on a Fox News segment following the election in which she claimed that fake ballots were being counted.

She also attended Trump’s hush money trial in New York, where he was indicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records.

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Trump has been highly critical of the Justice Department’s investigations into him, accusing it of engaging in legal action.

So far, Bondi’s nomination has not spelled chaos for Gaetz, who has been investigated by the House for ethics violations. However, some questioned her background in lobbying and representing corporate interests.