NEW YORK (AP) — Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, was chosen Thursday by Donald Trump to serve as U.S. attorney general, hours after his first choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew following a federal investigation into sex trafficking and an ethical investigation had made him the possibility of being confirmed questionable.
The 59-year-old has long been in Trump’s thrall and her name was floated as a potential candidate for the nation’s top law enforcement role during his first term.
If confirmed by the Republican-led Senate, Bondi would immediately become one of the most closely watched members of Trump’s Cabinet, given the Republican’s threat to retaliate against perceived opponents and concerns among Democrats that he will try to bend the Justice Department to his will.
Here are a few things you need to know about Bondi:
She has long been a fixture in Trump’s world
Bondi has long been an early ally. In March 2016, on the eve of Florida’s Republican primaries, Bondi endorsed Trump at a rally, choosing him over her home state’s candidate, Florida Senator Marco Rubio.
She gained national attention with appearances on Fox News as a defender of Trump and had a notable speaking slot at the 2016 Republican National Convention when Trump became the party’s surprise nominee. During the remarks, some in the crowd began chanting “Lock her up” about Trump’s Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.
Bondi responded by saying: “‘Lock her up’, I love that.”
As Trump prepared to move into the White House, she was part of his first transition team.
When Trump’s first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, was ousted in 2018, Bondi’s name was floated as a possible candidate for the job. Trump said at the time that he would love for Bondi to join the government. Ultimately, he chose William Barr instead.
She then continued to remain a pillar in Trump’s orbit even after he left office. She chaired the America First Policy Institute, a think tank founded by former Trump administration staffers to lay the groundwork should he win a second term.
She was Florida’s first female attorney general
Bondi made history in 2010 when she was elected Florida’s first female attorney general. Although the Tampa resident spent more than 18 years as a prosecutor in the Hillsborough County Prosecutor’s Office, she was a political unknown when she took the state’s top law enforcement job.
Bondi was elevated in the primaries after being endorsed by former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
She campaigned on a message of using the state’s highest legal office in a robust manner, challenging then-President Barack Obama’s health care law. She also called on her state to adopt Arizona’s “show me your papers” immigration law, sparking a national debate.
As Florida’s top prosecutor, Bondi emphasized human trafficking issues and pushed for strengthening state laws against human traffickers. She held this position from 2011 to 2019.
She worked as a lobbyist for both American and foreign clients
Bondi worked as a lobbyist for Ballard Partners, the powerful Florida-based firm where Trump’s campaign chief and new chief of staff Susie Wiles was a partner. Her American clients included General Motors, the commissioner of Major League Baseball and a Christian advocacy group against human trafficking.
She also lobbied for a Kuwaiti firm, according to Justice Department foreign agent documents and congressional lobbying documents. She registered as a foreign agent for the Qatari government; her work was related to anti-trafficking efforts in the run-up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Bondi also represented KGL Investment Company KSCC, a Kuwaiti firm also known as KGLI, and lobbied the White House, National Security Council, State Department and Congress on immigration policy, human rights and economic sanctions.
She defended Trump during his first impeachment trial
Bondi stopped lobbying to serve on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020.
He was accused – but not convicted – of abuse of power for allegedly pressuring Ukraine’s president to investigate his Democratic rivals while withholding crucial US security aid. He was also charged with obstruction of Congress for obstructing investigative efforts.
Trump wanted the Ukrainian president to publicly commit to an investigation into Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden, who sat on the board of a Ukrainian gas company. He pushed for the investigation while holding back nearly $400 million in military aid.
Bondi was brought in to strengthen White House messaging and communications. Trump and his allies tried to delegitimize the impeachment from the start, aiming to dismiss the whole thing as a farce.
She has criticized the criminal cases against Trump
Bondi has been an outspoken critic of the criminal cases against Trump and of Jack Smith, the special counsel who charged Trump in two federal cases. In a radio appearance, she blasted Smith and other prosecutors who accused Trump of being “horrible” people who she said were trying to make a name for themselves by “going after Donald Trump and weaponizing our justice system.”
It is unlikely that Bondi would be confirmed in time to overlap with Smith, who has filed two federal charges against Trump, both of which are expected to end before the new president takes office. Special counsels are expected to prepare reports on their work that have historically been made public, but it remains unclear when such a document could be released.
Bondi was also among a group of Republicans who came out to support Trump during his hush-money criminal trial in New York, which ended with a conviction on 34 felony counts in May.
As president, Trump demanded investigations of political opponents like Hillary Clinton and attempted to use the Justice Department’s law enforcement powers to advance his own interests, including by trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Bondi seems likely to serve him.
She would inherit a Justice Department expected to pivot sharply on civil rights, corporate enforcement and the prosecution of hundreds of Trump supporters charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol — defendants Trump has promised to pardon will grant.
She’s had some of her own political problems
Bondi publicly apologized in 2013 when she was attorney general after she tried to delay the execution of a convicted murderer because it conflicted with a fundraising campaign for her re-election campaign.
The attorney general, who represents the state in death row appeals, typically remains available on the date of execution cases in case last-minute legal issues arise.
Bondi later said she was wrong and that she regretted asking the then government. Rick Scott postponed Marshal Lee Gore’s execution by three weeks.
Bondi personally solicited a political contribution from Trump in 2013 as her office weighed whether to join New York in a lawsuit over fraud allegations involving Trump University.
Trump gave a $25,000 check to a political committee supporting Bondi from his family’s charitable foundation, in violation of the law’s ban on charities supporting partisan political activity. After the check arrived, Bondi’s office decided to sue Trump’s company for fraud, saying there were insufficient grounds to proceed. Both Trump and Bondi denied wrongdoing.
Two days before he was sworn in as president in January 2017, Trump paid $25 million to settle three lawsuits alleging that Trump University defrauded its students.
Trump also paid a $2,500 fine to the IRS over the illegal political donation in support of Bondi from the Donald J. Trump Foundation, which he was forced to dissolve amid a New York state investigation.
A Florida prosecutor appointed by then-Republican Gov. Rick Scott later determined there was insufficient evidence to support bribery charges against Trump and Bondi over the $25,000 donation.
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Long reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Michael Biesecker contributed to this report.
