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Bonnie Jo Mount

President-elect <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/donald-trump/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">Donald Trump</a> announced that he plans to nominate former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi to become the next U.S. attorney general, hours after former congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) withdrew. Gaetz has been accused of sexual misconduct, allegations he has denied, and faced a narrowing path to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/11/21/gaetz-withdraws-attorney-general-ethics-investigation/" target=_blank>confirmation in the Senate</a> before dropping his bid.

Bondi, 59, is a longtime Trump loyalist who served on the defense team during his first impeachment trial. Her selection to be the country’s top law enforcement official follows a presidential campaign in which Trump criticized the justice system as “weaponized” against him and vowed retribution in a second term.

“For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans - Not anymore,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again. I have known Pam for many years — She is smart and tough, and is an AMERICA FIRST Fighter, who will do a terrific job as Attorney General!”

Follow <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/12/02/trump-administration-transition/" target=_blank>live updates on the transition</a> to Trump’s second presidency. We’re <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/trump-administration-appointees/" target=_blank>tracking the people Trump has picked or is considering to fill his Cabinet</a> and key positions in his administration.

In 2010, Bondi became the first woman to be elected Florida attorney general and served two terms. She serves in leadership roles with the Center for Litigation and the Center for Law and Justice at the America First Policy Institute. Her selection for a Cabinet role reinforces the right-wing think tank’s status as a leading source of political appointees for Trump’s second term. The group helped lay the groundwork for a second Trump term but avoided the type of backlash levied against a similar effort, the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025.

She is also a partner at Ballard Partners, a powerhouse lobbying firm where Trump’s incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles once worked. The firm’s website lists Bondi as chair of the corporate regulatory compliance practice. She was registered to work for the Qatari Embassy in Washington on “efforts to combat human trafficking” during parts of <a href="https://efile.fara.gov/docs/6415-Supplemental-Statement-20200529-6.pdf" target=_blank>2019 and 2020</a>, Justice Department filings show. She also lobbied for General Motors and Amazon. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

Bondi played a leading role in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, appearing at news conferences and on television to press his false claims that voting fraud had rigged the election in Joe Biden’s favor. Like many of Trump’s other Cabinet choices, Bondi built her national profile with appearances on Fox News.

As Florida’s attorney general, Bondi faced widespread criticism for declining to prosecute one of Trump’s businesses, Trump University, which faced fraud charges in New York. Days after her office announced that it was reviewing allegations against Trump University, one of Trump’s foundations donated $25,000 to a political committee tied to Bondi’s reelection campaign.

Trump denied that the donation had anything to do with the allegations. He later <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/01/trump-pays-irs-a-penalty-for-his-foundation-violating-rules-with-gift-to-florida-attorney-general/" target="_blank">paid</a> a $2,500 penalty to the IRS because his charitable foundation had violated tax laws in making the contribution.

As Florida’s attorney general, Bondi joined with other Republican law enforcement chiefs in a high-profile lawsuit that aimed to overturn President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. In 2014, she argued that other states’ recognition of same-sex marriages would “impose significant public harm” to Floridians.

In 2018, Florida joined several other states in lawsuits against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, accusing the company of fueling a nationwide epidemic by deceptively marketing prescription painkillers. “It’s time the defendants pay for the pain and the destruction they’ve caused,” Bondi said at the time.

This is not the first time Trump has leaned on Bondi after a close male ally was immersed in a sexual misconduct scandal. In 2021, when Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski was accused of sexually harassing a Republican donor at a charity event, he was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/kristi-noem-affair-allegations-lewandowski/2021/09/29/859ad8da-2154-11ec-9309-b743b79abc59_story.html" target=_blank>fired</a> from a pro-Trump super PAC and Bondi was put in charge.

Bondi’s selection by Trump for attorney general was welcomed by a conservative group that opposes <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/abortion/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">abortion</a> and same-sex marriage.

“Pam is a thorough professional, a seasoned and capable prosecutor and a woman of enormous integrity who has Trump’s respect and confidence,” said Ralph Reed, founder and chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition. “She is uniquely qualified to restore the rule of law and put the blindfold back on Lady Justice and the Department of Justice.”

Bondi grew up in the Tampa area and worked as a prosecutor for 18 years in Florida’s Hillsborough County. She received her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Florida and her law degree from the Stetson University College of Law.

<i>Beth Reinhard, Aaron Schaffer and Caroline Kitchener contributed to this report.</i>

Stanford University, BA in international relations, French

Stanford University, MA in communication 

Marianne LeVine is a national political reporter for The Washington Post.

Marianne LeVine

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Who is Pam Bondi, Trump’s pick for attorney general?

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A photo of Pam Bondi with the headline: Pam Bondi, Trump's pick for attorney general, is a longtime loyalist

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Pam Bondi, Trump's pick for attorney general, is a longtime loyalist

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