Pam Bondi as Trump’s attorney general pick after Matt Gaetz withdraws

By Birdi Diehl

President-elect Donald Trump yesterday announced that he will nominate former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead the Justice Department. This comes after Matt Gaetz withdrew his name due to the sex trafficking allegations. 

In a social media post, Gaetz wrote: “I look forward to continuing the fight to save our country. Just maybe from a different post.” 

Bondi is known for being a defender of Trump. She was one of his lawyers during his first impeachment trial. This was where he was accused, not convicted, of “abusing his power as he tried to condition U.S. military assistance to Ukraine on that country investigating the-former Vice President Joe Biden”, according to Boston.com. 

Bondi is a well-known figure in Trump’s circle and has been on the America First Policy institute’s board as a chair, a think tank set up by former Trump administration staffers. Bondi has also been a vocal critic of the criminal cases against Trump and was calling those prosecuting Trump as “horrible” people, according to Boston.com. 

Bondi would be inheriting a Justice Department that is expected to “pivot sharply” in civil rights, corporate enforcement, and the prosecution of hundreds of Trump’s supporters charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. 

Bondi was also accused by a Massachusetts attorney of bribery over a $25,000 campaign contribution she was given for Trump in 2013. 

President-elect Donald Trump is set to be inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States on Jan. 20, 2025.