What we know about Pam Bondi, Trump’s loyal choice

Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images

Thursday, former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz withdrew his name as Donald Trumphis choice for attorney general. Gaetz’s eight days as nominee have been marred by a series of investigations into an alleged sexual relationship with a teenager, as well as a looming report from the House Ethics Committee, the revelations of which were believed to be particularly damning .

But within hours, the president-elect announced a replacement: former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. “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!” Trump wrote on TruthSocial Thursday.

While Bondi’s longer legal experience and lack of questions about personal misconduct could pave the way for her confirmation, she will still step into the role of loyal Trump stalwart who represented him during his first impeachment trial and promoted his claims election fraud scams of 2020. Here’s what we know about Trump’s latest cabinet pick.

In 2010, Bondi was elected as Florida’s attorney general, becoming the first woman to hold the position in the state. She held the role until 2019. A watershed moment during her tenure came in 2016, when it emerged that Bondi had solicited a donation to her campaign from Trump around the same time her office was considering joining a ongoing lawsuit against Trump University, a for-profit organization. education program that has been accused of fraudulent practices.

The Associated Press reports that the $25,000 donation came from the Donald J. Trump Foundation and was transferred to Bondi’s re-election committee, And Justice for All, in 2013. Marc Reichelderfer, a consultant who worked with the Bondi campaign, told the AP that Bondi spoke with Trump “several weeks” before the attorney general’s office expressed interest in the Trump University case. After receiving the donation, the state decided not to investigate the case.

“Although there was never an investigation, the staff, in doing due diligence, reviewed the complaints and litigation in New York and correctly determined that the New York litigation would provide relief to aggrieved consumers across the country,” said Bondi spokeswoman Whitney Ray. CNN.

The Washington Post reported that Trump paid a $2,500 fine to the IRS after the donation from his foundation was deemed inappropriate because of rules that prohibit nonprofits from contributing to political candidates.

During his time as state attorney general, Bondi took a strong stand against the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Her office took part in a multi-state lawsuit overturn the legislationa matter that went all the way to the US Supreme Court.

Bondi also took direct aim at then-President Obama over his health care law during the 2012 Republican National Convention in a joint speech with then-Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens. “He talks about giving us more control over health care decisions, but instead gives that power to government bureaucrats,” according to Tallahassee Democratic.

As Trump sought to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election in key battleground states, Bondi played a significant role. The Tampa Bay Times reported that Florida’s attorney general joined Rudy Giuliani and others at a post-Election Day news conference in Philadelphia claiming Trump’s victory while votes were still being counted. “We won Pennsylvania, and we want every vote to be counted fairly,” she said, according to the report Times. Joe Biden would win Pennsylvania.

During that time, Bondi made an appearance at The fox and friends, where she raised the prospect of fake ballots without providing any evidence for her claims. “For every vote that came in late, that was stamped late … that reduces every legal vote that came in,” Bondi said, according to Times. “This means that the good citizens who support all of us in Pennsylvania, their votes are not being counted after these bogus ballots that are coming in late… They are not letting us follow the process.”

After leaving the attorney general’s office, Bondi joined Ballard Partners, a lobbying firm founded by a top fundraiser to Trump. The new york Times reports that Bondi had lobbied for several major clients, including Uber, Amazon, General Motors, as well as a Qatari government. For the latter, Bondi was forced to do it register as a foreign agent for the government of Qatar.

Bondi was one of several lawyers selected to defend Trump during his first impeachment trial in 2020, when the then-president faced charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress over his interactions with Ukrainian officials. Bondi in short interrupted his work as a lobbyist to join Trump’s legal team.

Bondi drew criticism in 2014 for asking then-governor Rick Scott to change the planned date of an execution so she could attend her own re-election fundraiser. She later apologized for the request. “Marshall Lee Gore’s planned execution had already been stayed twice by the courts, and we should not have asked for the execution date to be moved,” she said at the time, according to Tampa Bay Times.