WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump's new choice for U.S. attorney general is much different than his predecessor.
President Trump's newest nominee, Pam Bondi, 59, brings the same reputation that former candidate Matt Gaetz had as a Trump supporter.
But Mr. Bondi lacks the personal controversy of Mr. Gaetz, the former Florida congressman who was forced to withdraw after opposition from Senate Republicans. She also brings equally significant experience from eight years as Florida Attorney General from 2011 to 2019.
As a result, she is expected to have a much easier path to approval.
The telegenic lawyer served as part of Trump's defense team during his first Senate impeachment trial in 2020 for pressuring Ukraine to investigate the Biden family, and argued that the Biden family was indeed corrupt. I remember him insisting that the investigation was legitimate.
Mr. Bondi recently worked at the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump think tank that is working to develop new policies that could be implemented during President Trump's second term.
If confirmed, Mr. Bondi would be seen as a key figure in Mr. Trump, 78,'s efforts to curb what he says is the federal government's weaponization against him. This includes moving to dismiss two federal criminal cases against him for contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election. Allegations of election and confidential document fraud.
She also oversaw reforms to the FBI, which is part of the Justice Department, and supported his efforts to mass deport illegal immigrants while pushing Democratic-led jurisdictions to take a tougher approach to violent crime. There is a high possibility that the company will be involved in a lawsuit challenging it. .
Another selection from Florida
Mr. Bondi's selection was announced by Mr. Trump on Thursday, shortly after Mr. Gaetz resigned. Even Senate Republicans had requested to see the draft House Ethics Committee report detailing allegations of sexual misconduct against former members. Mr. Gates denies the accusations.
She will be joining President Trump's impending return to power, including incoming White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio, and National Security Advisor nominee Mike Walz. He joins other notable Floridians in the lineup for .
Bondi was elected Florida attorney general in 2010 and served as a prosecutor in Tampa before being re-elected in 2014.
President Trump touted her focus on violent crime and the opioid epidemic when he announced his appointment as U.S. inspector general.
“Pam served as a prosecutor for nearly 20 years, being tough on violent criminals and keeping our streets safe for Florida families,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social. “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 that have devastated so many families across the country.
“I asked her to serve on the Opioid and Substance Abuse Committee during my first term because she did such a great job. We saved so many lives. It is!”
2018, Bondi sued After participating in early multistate settlements with some of the companies, drug companies including Purdue Pharma Inc. launched a “strategic campaign of misrepresentations to lure voters to painkillers, leading to addiction and often death.” '' was accused of doing so.
She later expanded her lawsuit to include Walgreens and CVS Pharmacy.
In 2017, she co-authored a report by President Trump's Commission on the Opioid Crisis, which included recommendations to address the then-emerging fentanyl threat, which It ended up causing a huge spike in deaths under President Biden, killing more than 223,000 Americans in the first three years of his administration. The federal government's preliminary estimates suggest a long tenure.
The former Florida congresswoman filed the lawsuit after the Republican-led state's failed attempt to overturn the private health insurance mandate in then-President Barack Obama's 2010 health care law. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law in 2012 until Congress repealed it in 2017.
Another key difference from Gaetz, who is an outspoken supporter of marijuana legalization, is that Bondi opposed the state's medical marijuana ballot measure in 2014 and voted against the state's ban on smokable medical marijuana in 2018. defended. Still, she later used her authority to authorize cannabis-derived CBD treatments.
As the state's attorney general, she defended Florida's same-sex marriage ban, while also defending gay men after a gunman killed 49 patrons at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando in 2016. and expressed her position as an advocate for lesbians. to Islamic countries.
Trump impeachment advocate, lobbyist
Bondi made national headlines in January 2020 when she passionately defended Trump as a representative during the then-president's first impeachment trial. Republican senators ultimately cleared Trump of abusing his office for pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate the Bidens.
Mr. Bondi pursued the case thoroughly, arguing that there appeared to be corruption within the Biden family that warranted investigation.
In a presentation on the Senate floor, he said that when then-Vice President Joe Biden was leading U.S. policy toward Ukraine in 2014, he and Devon Archer, one of his son Hunter Biden's business partners, He pointed out that he was having a meeting. This was around the time Hunter and Archer joined the board of a corrupt natural gas company, and their younger son at the time was earning a salary of up to $1 million, despite having no experience in the industry.
After reviewing news reports and communications from government officials raising concerns of corruption involving the Bidens and Burisma, Bondi said, “We had a basis to discuss this and raise this issue, and that's enough.'' ” he said.
The Post subsequently reported that then-Vice President Biden met with Burisma board advisor Vadim Pozharskiy at a dinner in Washington in April 2015, and that he has repeatedly spoken with Joe Biden. It was revealed in August 2015 that Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko had been working on Burisma geothermal power generation with Hunter. A subsidiary led by my second son.
Ms. Bondi joined Ballard Partners, a D.C. lobbying firm, in 2019 whose clients included Amazon, General Motors and Uber.
These connections could pose a potential conflict of interest if she were to become US AG, especially when it comes to Big Tech issues, but she could step back in such a case. There is gender.
Federal filings show Bondi said he earned $200,000 in 2020 and 2021 representing Amazon, which is facing bipartisan federal antitrust criticism.
