President-elect Donald Trump nominates former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to be U.S. attorney general. Trump’s announcement came hours after his first pick, former Republican Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), withdrew from consideration after a federal sex trafficking and ethics investigation complicated his confirmation chances.
Bondi, 59, has long been in Trump’s orbit, and her name came up during his first term as a potential candidate for the nation’s top law enforcement job. She was also a vocal spokesman for Trump as he tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Pennsylvania.
If confirmed by the Republican-led Senate, Bondi will become one of the most closely watched members of Trump’s cabinet, given his threat of retaliation against perceived opponents and fear among Democrats that he will seek to bend the Justice Department to his will.
Here are seven things you should know about Bondi.
Pam Bondi has long been a presence in the Trump world
Bondi is a longtime Trump ally. In March 2016, on the eve of Florida’s Republican primary, Bondi endorsed Trump, choosing him over her own state’s candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio.
She gained national attention for her appearances on Fox News as a Trump defender and had a notable speaking spot at the 2016 Republican National Convention, when Trump became the party’s surprise nominee. During the speeches, some of the crowd began chanting “Lock her up” in reference to Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.
Bondi replied: “Lock her up.” I like it very much.”
As Trump prepared to move into the White House, she served on his first transition team.
After Trump’s first term ended, Bondi became president of the America First Policy Institute, a think tank formed by former Trump administration officials to prepare the groundwork should he win a second term.
She played a key role in the 2020 Pennsylvania presidential election
Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, Bondi led the charge against Republican women calling for Trump’s re-election. In an article published in The Inquirer in 2019, Bondi praised her role as leader of the Women for Trump coalition, which gathered at the King of Prussia for the rally.
“Democrats and much of the mainstream media won’t admit it, but President Trump is an advocate for women,” Bondi wrote. “Our president began his campaign with a promise to fight on behalf of every American from coast to coast, and women across the country are benefiting from his bold agenda.”
She was also part of a team of Trump campaign leaders that slowed and clogged the election process in Philadelphia by filing legal challenges and false claims.
As Pennsylvania’s vote count stagnated for days after the 2020 election, the Trump campaign vowed to halt vote counting in the state through a flurry of legal challenges, part of a broader GOP strategy to flood courts in Pennsylvania and other swing states. At a campaign press conference, Bondi alleged that GOP observers were intimidated – based on the fact that observers had to stand behind waist-high metal barriers, as well as the “huge badge” she said the deputy city commissioner wore.
In Philadelphia, election officials received accusatory phone calls and death threats from Trump supporters enraged by false claims by Bondi and other Trump campaign leaders that the election was stolen.
When Bondi called then-City Commissioner Al Schmidt’s top deputy, Republican Seth Bluestein, by name at a Trump campaign press conference, he began receiving threats, anti-Semitic messages and phone calls, and police were stationed outside his home. (Bluestein is currently a city commissioner, replacing Schmidt, who is currently Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania).
» READ MORE: Philadelphia election officials receive death threats as Trump attacks the city
While votes were being counted, a Republican company with ties to Trump appeared to support send unmarked text messages urging its supporters to protest in Philadelphia. Bondi spoke at a Trump campaign press conference held in the same area and made baseless assertions that Democrats wanted to hide the vote-counting process.
A month-long political saga resulted in a long and drawn-out vote count in Pennsylvania.
» READ MORE: A month-long political saga that ensured a long vote count in Pennsylvania
Bondi was the first female attorney general in Florida
Bondi made history in 2010 when she was elected the first woman attorney general in Florida. Although the Tampa resident spent more than 18 years as a prosecutor in the Hillsborough County State’s Attorney’s Office, she was a political unknown when she held the state’s highest law enforcement position.
Bondi advanced in the primary after being endorsed by former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
She campaigned on calls for sturdy employ of the state’s top law firm, 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 nationwide debate.
As Florida’s top prosecutor, Bondi highlighted human trafficking issues and called for stronger state laws against human traffickers. She held this position in the years 2011-2019.
She has worked as a lobbyist for both American and foreign clients
Bondi worked as a lobbyist for Ballard Partners, a powerful Florida-based firm whose partner included Trump campaign chairman and new chief of staff Susie Wiles. Her U.S. clients included General Motors, the commissioner of Major League Baseball and a Christian anti-trafficking group.
She lobbied on behalf of a Kuwaiti company, according to Justice Department and congressional lobbying documents. She registered as a foreign agent of the Qatari government; her work was related to combating human trafficking ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
Bondi also represented KGL Investment Company KSCC, a Kuwaiti company also known as KGLI, in lobbying the White House, the National Security Council, the Department of State and Congress on immigration policy, human rights and economic sanctions.
She defended Trump during his first impeachment trial
Bondi stepped away from lobbying to serve on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020.
He was charged – but not convicted – of alleged abuse of power pressuring Ukraine’s president to investigate his democratic rivals while key U.S. security aid was withheld. He was also charged with obstruction of Congress for obstructing investigative efforts.
Trump wanted the Ukrainian president to publicly commit to investigating Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, who served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company. He pushed for an investigation, raising nearly $400 million in military aid.
Bondi was asked to strengthen the White House’s messaging and communications. Trump and his allies were looking delegitimizing impeachment from the beginning, trying to dismiss the whole thing as a farce.
He is critical of the criminal cases conducted against Trump
Bondi has been a vocal critic of the criminal cases against Trump, as well as Jack Smith, the special counsel who prosecuted Trump in two federal cases. In one radio appearance, she sharply criticized Smith and other prosecutors who accused Trump of what she said were “terrible” people trying to make a name for themselves by “going after Donald Trump and weaponizing our legal system.”
Bondi is unlikely to be confirmed in time to coincide with Smith, who has filed two federal charges against Trump which are to be completed before the new president takes office. Special advisers are expected to produce reports on their work, which have been made public in the past, but it is unclear when such a document might be made public.
Bondi was also among the group of Republicans who supported Trump during his secret criminal trial in New York, which ended in May with a 34-crime conviction.
As president, Trump has demanded investigations of political opponents like Hillary Clinton and sought to employ the Justice Department’s law enforcement powers to advance his own interests, including trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Bondi seems likely to deliver.
He will inherit a Justice Department poised to rapidly address civil rights, corporate enforcement and the prosecution of hundreds of Trump supporters charged during the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. defendants whom Trump promised to pardon.
She has had some political controversies of her own
In 2013, while serving as attorney general, Bondi issued a public apology after she tried to delay the execution of a convicted killer because it interfered with fundraising for her re-election campaign.
The attorney general who represents the state in death row appeals is usually available on the day of execution in case of any last-minute legal problems.
Bondi later said she was wrong and apologized for reaching out to then-Gov. Rick Scott postponed the execution of Marshall Lee Gore by three weeks.
Bondi personally asked for political support for 2013 from Trump while her office was considering whether to join New York in a lawsuit over fraud allegations involving Trump University.
Trump cut the $25,000 check to a political committee supporting Bondi from the family’s charitable foundation, in violation of legal prohibitions against charities supporting partisan political activities. After receiving the check, Bondi’s office dropped its lawsuit against Trump’s company for fraud, citing insufficient grounds to proceed. Both Trump and Bondi have denied any wrongdoing.
Two days before he was sworn in as president in January 2017. Trump paid $25 million settle three lawsuits over allegations that Trump University defrauded its students.
Trump also paid approx (*7*)$2,500 fine for the IRS in connection with an illegal political donation to support Bondi from the Donald J. Trump Foundation, which he was forced to dissolve in connection with a New York State investigation.
A Florida prosecutor appointed by then-GOP Gov. Rick Scott later determined that he had insufficient evidence to support bribery allegations against Trump and Bondi over a $25,000 donation.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
