Pam Bondi, a 59-year-old Florida Republican, is President-elect Donald Trump’s new choice for attorney general. Bondi, who served as Florida’s first female state attorney general from 2011 to 2019, has a reputation for being loyal to Trump and supporting his claims, including false ones about election fraud in 2020.
Bondi began her career as an assistant state attorney in Hillsborough County in the 1990s and worked her way up to try cases involving domestic violence and capital murder. She also supervised high-profile cases, including one involving former New York Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden.
In 2010, Bondi became Florida’s first female attorney general after winning a crowded Republican primary with support from Sarah Palin. During her eight-year tenure, she tried to overturn the Affordable Care Act, opposed expanding LGBTQ+ protections, and supported anti-human trafficking efforts.
Bondi has drawn criticism for her fund-raising practices and persuaded Governor Rick Scott to postpone an execution in 2013 due to a conflict with her re-election campaign. She later apologized.
In 2020, Bondi joined Trump’s impeachment defense team and accused former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. of corrupt business practices with his son Hunter. Her comments were widely criticized, but she remains loyal to Trump.
As attorney general, Bondi will be responsible for investigating allegations of election irregularities. Despite her lack of evidence in 2020, she supported Trump’s claims of election fraud. This appointment has raised concerns about the potential for partisan politics to influence investigations and decisions at the Department of Justice.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/us/politics/pam-bondi-trump-attorney-general.html