President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday nominated former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to be US attorney general after his second choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration.
Bondi is a longtime associate of Trump and was one of his lawyers during his first impeachment trial, when he was accused — but not convicted — of colluding with those investigating the then-former vice president. The country tried to condition US military aid to Ukraine. Joe Biden.
Bondi was among a group of Republicans who supported Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with convictions on 34 felony counts. She is chair of the America First Policy Institute, a think tank founded by former Trump administration staffers.
“For too long, the partisan Justice Department has been weaponized against me and other Republicans — not anymore,” Trump said in a social media post. “Pam will refocus DOJ on its intended mission of fighting crime and making America safe again.”
Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., told Fox Business on Sunday that the transition team has backups in mind for his controversial nominees if they fail to be confirmed. Bondi’s snap election came about six hours after Gaetz’s resignation.
Gaetz stepped aside amid continuing findings from a federal sex-trafficking investigation that cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed as the nation’s chief federal law enforcement officer.
The announcement capped a tumultuous eight-day period in which Trump sought to use his decisive election victory to force Senate Republicans to accept provocative picks like Gaetz, who would lead the White House. was investigated by the Justice Department before being tapped last week. The decision could increase scrutiny of other controversial Trump nominees, including Pentagon pick Pete Hegseth, who faces sexual assault allegations he denies.
“While the momentum was strong, it’s clear that my confirmation was unfairly distracting from the important work of the Trump/Vance transition,” Gaetz, a Florida Republican who tried to win senators’ support a day earlier, said. I had a meeting, said in a statement.
“There is no time to waste on unnecessary bickering in Washington, so I will be carefully withdrawing my name to serve as attorney general. Trump’s DOJ must be in place and first. The day must be ready,” he added. Hours later, Gaetz posted on social media that he was “hopeful to continue the fight to save our country,” adding, “Perhaps a different From the post.”
Trump said in a social media post: “I really appreciate Matt Gaetz’s recent efforts to get the nomination to be attorney general. He was doing a great job but at the same time he didn’t want to be a distraction to the administration.” For which he has a lot of respect. Matt has a great future, and I look forward to seeing all the great things he will do!
Last week, Trump nominated personal attorneys Todd Blanch, Emil Bowe and DeJohn Sauer to senior roles in the department. Another potential attorney general contender, Matt Whittaker, was named Wednesday as the U.S. ambassador to NATO.
