TALLAHASSEE – President-elect Donald Trump has a new pick for U.S. attorney general – and it’s another person from Florida.
Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is Trump’s next pick for the post after Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration.
Bondi, 59, is originally from Temple Terrace and has been a familiar face to Florida and Tampa Bay residents for decades.
She has been a reliable supporter of the former president. Here’s what else you need to know about her:
1. She was a prosecutor and spokesperson for a long time
Bondi served as a prosecutor and semi-regular spokesperson for the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office from 1992 to 2009. She estimated in 2010 that she had handled thousands of cases, including murder, rape and drug crimes.
She was also a frequent guest and legal analyst on CNN and Fox News, giving her hours of experience behind the camera.
During her tenure, she made national news for one of her own cases, a sixteen-month custody dispute over a Saint Bernard. The dog was rescued from New Orleans and sent to the Pinellas County Humane Society, where Bondi adopted him just days after losing her own St. Bernard to cancer.
The original owners tracked down the dog and filed a lawsuit to get it back. Bondi accused them of neglecting the dog, but eventually settled the lawsuit and returned it.
2. She was Florida’s first female attorney general
Bondi surprised her colleagues and friends when she decided to run for Florida Attorney General in 2010.
She appeared as a conservative, pro-business Republican who railed against the federal government and then-President Barack Obama.
She rode the same Tea Party wave that brought Rick Scott to the governor’s mansion and became the first woman to become Florida’s attorney general.
During his time in office, Bondi challenged the Affordable Care Act and the Environmental Protection Agency’s restrictions on air pollutants and opposed semiautomatic gun bans passed in other states after the Sandy Hook shooting and gay marriage. She also continued to appear on Fox News.
She also advocated rewriting state prescription drug laws to try to stop the opioid epidemic, and she closed pill mills. In 2018, she sued several drug manufacturers and pharmacies.
3. She refused to go after Trump University
in 2013, Bondi accepted a $25,000 check from Trump for the re-election campaign while her staff reviewed a complaint about Trump University.
Nearly two dozen people have complained to the state about Trump University, most before she took office in 2011. Meanwhile, New York’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit, alleging that Trump University and its affiliates are “sham for-profit colleges.” who had defrauded 5,000 consumers. .
A month after receiving the donation, Bondi’s office announced it was dropping the case. Six months after the donation, Trump hosted a fundraiser for Bondi at Mar-a-Lago.
When the controversy resurfaced in 2016, Bondi denied involvement in the decision to drop the case.
“I would never trade a campaign donation – that’s absurd – for a favor to anyone,” Bondi said at the time.
4. She defended Trump and alleged fraud in 2020
Even before she left the attorney general’s office in 2019, rumors swirled that she would take a job in Trump’s administration.
Instead, Trump hired her later that year to temporarily coordinate the response to the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry against Trump and be its public face.
In the aftermath of the 2020 election, she appeared alongside Trump and alleged widespread fraud that cost him the election.
During a Fox News appearance, she claimed without evidence that there were “fake ballots arriving late” in Pennsylvania.
“Pam, did you just say ‘fake ballots’?” the show’s host, Steve Doocy, then asked.
“That could be possible. That’s the problem. If they allow it, we don’t know, Steve,” Bondi said.
In 2021, she took charge of the pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again Action.
5. Her lobbying clients included a private prison operator
After leaving office in 2019, Bondi became a lobbyist at Ballard Partners, where her clients included private prison operator Geo Group and the country of Qatar.
Her work for the country was focused on helping develop effective anti-trafficking efforts in connection with the 2022 World Cup, a colleague said at the time.
