"Loyal" and "confirmable": Who is Pam Bondi, Trump's new pick for attorney general?

Following the withdrawal of Matt Gaetz's candidacy, Donald Trump chose Pam Bondi as the new attorney general nominee. Despite having been away from the public scene in recent years, she is a longtime ally of the president-elect and also has experience as attorney general of Florida, a post she held between 2011 and 2019. Most recently she headed the legal arm of the America First Policy Institute, a think tank aligned with the 'MAGA' agenda.

"For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans – Not anymore. 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!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Bondi is 59 years old and she would be the third woman in history to lead the Department of Justice (DOJ), following Janet Reno (1993-2021) and Loretta Lynch (2015-2017).

Who is Pam Bondi?

Pam Bondi began forging her name in Florida when she served as a member of the Hillsborough County Attorney's Office, where she had to tackle high-profile cases. During 18 years there, she prosecuted former baseball player Dwight Gooden for substance abuse, as well as defendants in the death of Martin Anderson, a teenager who died in a juvenile detention center.

In 2010, she decided to run as a Republican for Florida attorney general, competing against heavyweight names such as then Lieutenant GovernorJeff Kottkamp. Despite running from behind in name recognition and in the polls, she managed to raise her profile after the endorsement of Sarah Palin and her appearances on Fox News, mainly with Sean Hannity.

To the surprise of many analysts, Bondi ultimately prevailed in a very close Republican primary. She took first place with 37% of the vote, beating Kottkamp's 32% and state Rep. Holly Benson's 29%.

She had no trouble winning the general election, defeating Democrat Dan Gelber by nearly 14 percentage points, and becoming the first woman to serve as attorney general of the Sunshine State.

Already in office, she participated in state lawsuits seeking to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), championed the agenda of then-governor Rick Scott and led state efforts to combat the opioid crisis.

If confirmed, she is expected to take the fight against drugs and opioids nationwide, as well as the fight against crime.

After eight years as Florida's attorney general, Bondi worked as a lobbyist for Ballard Partners, where she worked alongside Susie Wiles, Trump's chosen second-term chief of staff. Among her clients were General Motors, the commissioner of Major League Baseball and KGL Investment Company KSCC, a Kuwaiti firm. She even worked with the government of Qatar.

Relationship with Trump

Bondi is a confidant to Donald Trump, with whom she has a long-standing relationship. In 2013, the tycoon donated $25,000 to a political committee supporting the then attorney general. After supporting Jeb Bush's candidacy in 2016, she endorsed Trump over Marco Rubio in that year's Republican primary.

She was a speaker at the 2016 Republican National Convention, where she chanted "lock her up," referring to Hillary Clinton. She later served on Trump's transition team and then as part of a presidential commission focused on drug addiction and the opioid crisis.

She was also one of the Republican voices behind the First Step Act, the judicial reform passed during the first Trump administration.

Bondi was also part of the legal team that defended Trump in his first impeachment in 2020, in which Democrats accused him of abuse of power for allegedly pressuring the Ukrainian president to investigate his Democratic rivals.

More recently she headed the legal arm of the America First Policy Institute and actively campaigned in Florida on Trump's behalf.

"I think she'll be able to root out a lot of the bad apples"

Pam's choice generated multiple reactions among Republicans and the media, from where they mainly highlighted that a "loyal" and "confirmable" person was sought by the Senate, in contrast to Gaetz's personality.

"The view of Bondi from one Republican: She is MAGA-aligned, AG-experienced, Susie Wiles-oriented and, most importantly, confirmable," CNN's Kaitlan Collins expressed on X.

"Pam Bondi is, without question, qualified to be attorney general," said Elie Honig, a legal analyst for the aforementioned media outlet, also claiming that her experience is "on par with, or better than, most United States attorneys general that we've seen over the past 50 years or so."

For Gianno Caldwell, head of the Caldwell Institute for Public Safety, an organization designed to fight violent crime, Bondi is "all about integrity and the proper application of justice and fairness."

"I think she's going to be able to root out a lot of the bad apples. And return the Justice Department to its traditional focus, which is law and order, and fighting crime," he added, speaking to Fox News.