The New Cabinet? Pam Bondi
After realizing that his first choice for Attorney-General would likely not get confirmed by the Senate, President-Elect Donald Trump has put forth another name as his choice for US Attorney-General, someone with actual experience as an Attorney-General. Pamela Jo Bond is an attorney, lobbyist, and a Republican politician who served as Florida's attorney-general from 2011 to 2019, the first woman elected to that office. In 2020, she was one of President Trump's defense lawyers during his first impeachment trial and in 2024 she led the legal arm of the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute. On November 21, 2024, Trump announced she would be nominated for US Attorney-General after previous nominee Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from nomination.
Bondi was born on November 17, 1965 in Temple Terrace, Florida. Her father was Joseph Bondi who was then Mayor of Temple Terrace. In 1987 Bondi received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Florida, majoring in criminal justice. She received her J.D, from Stetson University College of Law in 1990 and was admitted to the Florida Bar on June 24, 1991. Early career
Bondi was a prosecutor as well as a media spokeswoman in Hillbsborough County in Florida, where she served as an assistant state attorney. Bondi prosecuted former Major League Baseball player Dwight Gooden in 2006 for violating the terms of his probation and in 2007, Bondi she prosecuted the defendants in the death of Martin Anderson.
Bondi ran for Florida state attorney general in 2010, running in a competitive field. She received the endorsement of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. She ultimately won the primary with 37.89% of the vote and in the general election, she comfortably defeated he Democratic opponent, former state legislator Dan Gelber to become the state's first female attorney general. She was re-elected in November 2014, receiving 55% of the vote.
Bondi was the lead attorney general in an unsuccessful lawsuit seeking to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care act (better known as Obamacare) in Florida et. al. vs. United States Department of Heath and Human Services, a case in which the State of Florida and 26 other states argued that the individual mandate provision of the ACA violates the United States Constitution.
In 2016, Bondi gave a speech at the Republican National Convention during which she led chants of "lock her up" directed at the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
In 2018, Bondi joined with 19 other Republican-led states in a lawsuit to overturn the ACA's bans on health insurance companies charging higher premiums to people with pre-existing conditions or denying them coverage outright.
Bondi defended Amendment 8, a 2008 amendment to the Florida Constitution banning same-sex marriage, against legal challenges on behalf of the state. Bondi claimed that these actions did not reflect her opinions on same-sex marriage, but that she did so out of respect for the constitution. After the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, Bondi was interviewed by CNN's Anderson Cooper, who said that Bondi's expression of support for the LGBT community was at odds with her past record. Bondi accused Cooper of fomenting "anger and hate."
In August 2018, Bondi was involved in a controversy when she co-hosted "The Five" on Fox News for three days in a row, while still serving as Florida attorney general. Fox News claimed that the Florida Commission on Ethics had approved Bondi's appearance on the program. However a spokeswoman for the commission denied that.
In nominating her to be U.S. attorney general, Trump said that, as Florida's attorney general, Bondi had "worked to stop the trafficking of deadly drugs, and reduce the tragedy of Fentanyl Overdose Deaths, which have destroyed many families across our Country," and that she had done "an incredible job". Some news media challenged this assertion, arguing that \Florida's age-adjusted rate of "deaths from drug poisoning" had nearly doubled during her term, from 13.7 per 100,000 residents in 2011 to 25.1 when she left office in 2019.
Another controversy concerns Bondi's association with the Church of Scientology. Beginning in 2010, Bondi has been the beneficiary of a number of fundraisers that wealthy Scientologists have organized for her political campaigns. Bondi has justified those contacts, arguing that the group wishes to help her crack down on human trafficking.
In 2011, Bondi is said to have pressured two attorneys to resign who were investigating Lender Processing Service, a company now known as Black Knight, concerning the so-called "robosigning scandal." The attorneys were investigating the company as part of their work for Florida's Economic Crime Division. After the resignations, Bondi received campaign contributions from Lender Processing Services.
In 2013, Bondi persuaded Governor Rick Scott to postpone a scheduled execution because it conflicted with a fundraising event. After questions were raised in the media, Bondi apologized for moving the execution date. That same year Bondi also received criticism following a campaign donation from Donald Trump. Prior to the donation, Bondi had received at least 22 fraud complaints regarding Trump University. A spokesperson for the Attorney-General's department had previously announced that her office was considering joining a lawsuit initiated by Eric Schneiderman, New York's attorney general, alleging potential tax fraud charges against Trump. Four days later, a PAC established by Bondi to support her re-election, And Justice for All, received a $25,000 donation from the Donald J. Trump Foundation. Bondi subsequently declined to join the lawsuit against Trump University. In 2016, after Citizens Responsible for Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the IRS regarding the donation, the Trump Foundation stated that it had been made in error, intending for the donation to go to Bondi's unrelated Kansas non-profit Justice for All. In June 2016, a spokesman for Bondi said that Bondi had solicited the donation directly from Trump several weeks before her office announced it was considering joining the lawsuit.
On March 14, 2016, Bondi endorsed Trump in the 2016 Florida Republican Presidential Primary. In September 2016, the IRS determined that the donation to Bondi's PAC violated laws against political contributions from nonprofit organizations, and ordered Trump to pay a fine for the contribution. Trump also was required to reimburse the foundation for the sum that had been donated to Bondi. Neither Bondi nor her PAC were fined or criminally charged. In November 2019, Trump was ordered by a New York state court to close down the foundation and pay $2 million in damages for misusing it, including the illegal donation to Bondi.
In 2019, after her final term as Florida attorney general, Bondi was hired by Ballard Partners, a firm with close ties to Trump. She began working as a registered foreign agent for the government of Qatar. In November 2019, she was hired by the first Trump administration during Trump's first impeachment proceedings. On January 17, 2020, Bondi was named as part of Trump's defense team for the Senate impeachment trial. During the course of the impeachment trial, Bondi alleged that former Vice-President Joe Biden and his son Hunter were involved in corruption in Ukraine, stemming from the younger Biden's position on board of Burisma Holdings.
Lev Parnas, a businessman with close ties to Rudy Giuliani and to Ukraine, had several meetings with Bondi in 2018 while she was the Florida attorney general, and after she left office in 2019. In 2019, Parnas was arrested and accused of illegally funneling foreign money from Ukrainians and Russians to Republican politicians, including in Florida.
Bondi spoke in support of Trump at the 2020 Republican National Convention and she later supported Trump's claims that there was large-scale voter-fraud in Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. In an appearance on Fox News on November 5, 2020, host Steve Doocy challenged Bondi to provide evidence for her claims of fraud, but she refused to do.
By 2024, Bondi led the legal arm of the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute, a nonprofit that planned policies for a potential second Trump presidency. On November 21, 2024, president-elect Trump announced she would be nominated for United States Attorney-General after the withdrawal from consideration by Trump's first choice, former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz.
Bondi married Garret Barnes in 1990. The couple divorced after 22 months of marriage. In 1996, Bondi married Scott Fitzgerald and they divorced in 2002.