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Trump nominates Pam Bondi to be attorney general

President-elect names former attorney general of Florida as new AG nominee after Matt Gaetz steps aside.

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump named Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, to be U.S. attorney general just hours after his other choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration.

Bondi served as the top law enforcement officer of the country’s third most populous state from 2011 to 2019. She served on Trump’s Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission during his first administration.

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Her resume contrasts with that of Gaetz, who has little of the traditional experience expected of an attorney general. Bondi would likely face less opposition from senators involved in the confirmation process.

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Trump announced his pick of Bondi on social media, praising her for her prosecutorial experience and saying she was tough on crime as Florida’s first female attorney general.

Bondi was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. She’s been a chair at the America First Policy Institute, a think tank set up by former Trump administration staffers.

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“For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans — Not anymore,” Trump said in a social media post. “Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again.”

Bondi is a longtime Trump ally and was one of his lawyers during his first impeachment trial, when he was accused — but not convicted — of abusing his power as he tried to condition U.S. military assistance to Ukraine on that country investigating then-former Vice President Joe Biden.

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Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. told Fox Business on Sunday that the transition team had backups in mind for his controversial nominees should they fail to get confirmed. The swift selection of Bondi came about six hours after Gaetz withdrew.

Gaetz stepped aside amid continued fallout over a federal sex trafficking investigation that cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed as the nation’s chief federal law enforcement officer.

Gaetz, who faced opposition from Senate Republicans, was the subject of a House Ethics Committee probe into allegations of having sex with an underage 17-year-old girl. He has denied wrongdoing.

Trump has sought to capitalize on his decisive election with rapid-fire administration announcements. The decision could heighten scrutiny on other controversial Trump nominees, including Pentagon pick Pete Hegseth, who faces sexual assault allegations that he denies.

“While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition,” Gaetz, a Florida Republican who one day earlier met with senators in an effort to win their support, said in a statement.

“There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General. Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1,” he added. Hours later, Gaetz posted on social media that he looks “forward to continuing the fight to save our country,” adding, “Just maybe from a different post.”

Trump, in a social media post, said: “I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General. He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect. Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!”

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Last week, Trump named personal lawyers Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and D. John Sauer to senior roles in the department. Another possible attorney general contender, Matt Whitaker, was announced Wednesday as the U.S. ambassador to NATO.

Bondi, too, is a longtime loyalist. She has been a vocal critic of the criminal cases against Trump as well as Jack Smith, the special counsel who charged Trump in two federal cases. In one radio appearance, she blasted Smith and other prosecutors who have charged Trump as “horrible” people she said were trying to make names for themselves by “going after Donald Trump and weaponizing our legal system.”

Bondi would inherit a Justice Department expected to pivot sharply on civil rights, corporate enforcement and the prosecutions of hundreds of Trump supporters charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol — defendants whom Trump has pledged to pardon.

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It’s unlikely Bondi would be confirmed in time to overlap with Smith, who brought two federal indictments against Trump that are both expected to wind down before the incoming president takes office. Special counsels are expected to produce reports on their work that historically are made public, but it remains unclear when such a document might be released.

In 2013, while serving as Florida attorney general, Bondi publicly apologized for asking that the execution of a man convicted of murder be delayed because it conflicted with a campaign fundraiser.

Bondi said she was wrong and sorry for requesting then-Gov. Rick Scott push back the execution of Marshall Lee Gore by three weeks.

Before she ran for state attorney general in 2010, Bondi worked for the Hillsborough County state attorney.

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By ERIC TUCKER and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, The Associated Press

Reuters News Agency and Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Michelle L. Price, Lisa Mascaro, Mary Clare Jalonick and Adriana Gomez Licon contributed to this report.

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