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US President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Pam Bondi to be attorney general after his initial pick, Matt Gaetz, withdrew from consideration for the role.
The unexpected move added new drama to Trump’s selection of Cabinet nominees, as he seeks to quickly secure the lead for one of the most important positions in his incoming administration, the Justice Department.
The new attorney general must be confirmed by a majority of US senators.
Bondi, a two-term state attorney general from Florida, is seen as a less controversial choice than Gaetz, who had limited legal experience and was previously accused of having sex with an underage girl. I was under investigation by the DOJ.
While he was never charged, he was also the subject of a long-running congressional investigation into alleged sexual misconduct and drug use. The investigation was put on hold after Gaetz, 42, resigned from his congressional seat last week. Gaetz has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
Bondi is a longtime Trump associate who was part of his legal defense team in his first impeachment trial and defended the president-elect’s efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election, including voting in several states. Monitoring of filing of cases was also included.
“For too long, the partisan Justice Department has been weaponized against me and other Republicans — not anymore,” Trump wrote on his Truth social platform on Thursday. “Pam will refocus DOJ on its intended mission of fighting crime and making America safe again.”
He added that Bondi was “smart and tough, and America’s first fighter, who will do a wonderful job as Attorney General!”
Gaetz confirmed the selection in a post on X, saying Bondi was an “amazing choice” who would “bring much-needed reforms to the DOJ.”
Other Trump allies expressed confidence that Bondi, unlike Gaetz, would face few problems getting confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate.
Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, posted on X that Bondi was a “grand slam, touchdown, hole-in-one, ace, hat trick, slam dunk, Olympic gold medal pick”, adding: “It was quickly confirmed It will be done as soon as it deserves confirmation.”
Bondi served as Florida Attorney General from 2011 to 2019. He then joined Ballard Partners, an influential lobbying firm with close ties to Trump. Susie Wiles, Trump’s pick for White House chief of staff, worked at the firm for nearly a decade.
Bondi leads Ballard’s corporate regulatory compliance practice. He has lobbied the federal government on behalf of General Motors, Amazon, Uber, the government of Qatar and other clients.
He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bondi also heads the Center on Litigation at the America First Policy Institute, a right-wing think tank associated with Trump and led by his transition co-chair Linda McMahon.
Trump and Bondi were investigated in 2016 over a $25,000 donation that Trump, then a real estate magnate, made to his 2013 re-election campaign for Florida attorney general.
Days after receiving the donation, Bondi decided not to proceed with an investigation into alleged fraud at Trump University, now a for-profit college.
Both Trump and Bondi have long denied any connection between the donation and Bondi’s decision in the case.
