Statement | Would Pam Bondi Stand Up To Trump For Attorney General?

If anything, Ms. Bondi’s resume is most reminiscent of Janet Reno, who used 15 years seam public prosecutor for Miami-Dade County (called Dade County at the time) before serving as the United States Attorney from 1993 to 2001. That is not to say that Ms. Bondi is the next Ms. Reno. During her tenure, Ms. Reno emerged as the most fiercely independent attorney general of the modern era, often to the dismay of the president who had appointed her, Bill Clinton, and the power structure in Washington, DC.

Mrs. Bondi has a history of fierce loyalty to Mr. Trump. She represented him at his first impeachment trial in 2020. And she has long supported him politically; in 2016 talk at the Republican National Convention she toppled over Mr. Trump, and when the crowd started chanting “lock her up” about Hillary Clinton, she said, “I love it.”

In 2013, Ms. Bondi requested and accepted a $25,000 donation from Mr. Trump’s foundation for a political action committee that supported her political prospects; around the same time, as Florida’s attorney general, she chose not to open a formal investigation into Trump University, which had drawn numerous complaints from Ms. Bondi’s constituents.

Mrs. Bondi’s past relationship with Mr. Trump is relevant, but not disqualifying or even historically unusual. Before he was confirmed as the US Attorney General in 2005, Alberto Gonzales had served as a White House adviser and counselor to George W. Bush. Edwin Meese had worked for Ronald Reagan before becoming attorney general in 1985. Jimmy Carter nominated his childhood friend, Griffin Bell, for the top job in the Justice Department. John F. Kennedy appointed his own brother.

But more than previous presidents, Mr. Trump has made it clear that he expects unwavering devotion from his appointees. And the attorney general, more than other cabinet members, must at times exercise independence from the president, particularly in criminal prosecution decisions. The question then is whether Ms Bondi can do it as the Attorney General despite her previous work with and around Mr. Trump, or whether she will activate his worst instincts.