Trump administration profile: Pam Bondi

 By Emma Rose Brown

President-elect Donald Trump nominated Pamela J. Bondi to lead the Department of Justice on Nov. 21, just hours after Trump’s original pick, former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), withdrew his name from consideration over alleged sex crimes and drug-related misconduct. 

Who is she? Bondi, a corporate lobbyist and former two-term attorney general of Florida, is a longtime Trump loyalist who served on his first impeachment team. She falsely claimed he won Pennsylvania in 2020, and she stumped for Trump in late 2024. 

Follow the money: 

• In 2013, the Trump Foundation made an illegal donation to a political group supporting Bondi’s attorney general reelection campaign in Florida. At the time, Bondi was considering whether to investigate Trump University for alleged fraud. Her office decided not to take up the case and in 2016 the Trump Foundation paid a $2,500 fine to the IRS for the donation. 
• During her two campaigns for state attorney general, Bondi received the majority of her funding from the Florida Republican Party, totaling $3 million, including public matching funds. The next largest source of donations — nearly $600,000 — came from the finance, business, and real estate sector. 

The revolving door:

In 2019, after finishing her second term as Florida attorney general, Bondi joined the lobbying firm Ballard Partners, founded by major Trump donor Brian Ballard. She has lobbied for clients including Amazon, Uber and private prison giant GEO Group. During the 2024 election cycle, Ballard raised over $50 million for Trump-related committees and personally contributed $250,000. GEO Group donated $1 million to the pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again.

Why does it matter? 

·       Trump and some of his allies have pledged to prosecute the president-elect’s political enemies. Former DOJ prosecutor Ankush Khardori told The Hill that Trump will virtually be able to “direct his attorney general to do pretty much anything he wants without there being any real oversight or scrutiny.” Bondi has previously vowed to prosecute those involved in Trump’s indictment, telling Fox News in 2023, “The Department of Justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted, the bad ones.” 

·       Bondi’s brother, Brad Bondi, was previously listed as an attorney for Elon Musk’s company Tesla during an SEC investigation alleging Musk misled investors. As attorney general, Pam Bondi will be in a position to end the ongoing Justice Department investigation into Tesla related to another alleged case of securities fraud. Musk, who poured $260 million into Trump’s campaign, has become a close confidant of the president-elect.

This article originally appeared in Open Secrets on December 20th, 2024

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