Pamela Jo Bondi (born November 17, 1965) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician. A Republican, she served as the 37th

Florida attorney general The Florida attorney general is an elected cabinet official in the U.S. state of Florida. The attorney general serves as the chief legal officer of the state and is head of the Florida Department of Legal Affairs. The office is one of Florida's t ...

from 2011 to 2019, the first woman elected to the office. In 2020, Bondi was one of President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

's defense lawyers during his first impeachment trial.

Early life and education

Bondi's hometown is Temple Terrace, Florida. Her father, Joseph Bondi, was a city council member and then Mayor of Temple Terrace. She is a graduate of C. Leon King High School in

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough C ...

. Bondi graduated from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in 1987 with a degree in

Criminal Justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

and was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority. She earned a JD from Stetson Law School in 1990 and was admitted to the Florida Bar on June 24, 1991.

Career

Bondi acted as a

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

and spokeswoman in

Hillsborough County, Florida Hillsborough County is located in the west central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. In the 2020 census, the population was 1,459,762, making it the fourth-most populous county in Florida and the most populous county outside the Miami metro ...

, where she was an Assistant State Attorney. Bondi resigned this position to seek the office of Attorney General of Florida. She has made guest appearances on ''

Scarborough Country ''Scarborough Country'' is an opinion/analysis show broadcast on MSNBC Monday to Thursday at 9 P.M. ET. It was hosted by former congressman Joe Scarborough. ''Scarborough Country'' made its debut in April 2003. On average, ''Scarborough Countr ...

'' with Joe Scarborough and various other cable news programming on

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

and worked for

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is o ...

as a guest host. Bondi prosecuted former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

player

Dwight Gooden Dwight Eugene Gooden (born November 16, 1964), nicknamed "Dr. K" and "Doc", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Gooden pitched from 1984 to 1994 and from 1996 to 2000 for the ...

in 2006 for violating the terms of his probation and for substance abuse. In 2007, Bondi also prosecuted the defendants in Martin Anderson's death.

Attorney General

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, Bondi defeated Democratic State Senator Dan Gelber by a 55% to 41% margin to become the first female Attorney General of the State of Florida. Bondi was the lead attorney general in an unsuccessful lawsuit seeking to overturn the

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...

in ''

Florida et al v. United States Department of Health and Human Services ''National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius'', 567 U.S. 519 (2012), was a landmark United States Supreme Court decision in which the Court upheld Congress's power to enact most provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Car ...

''. In the lawsuit the State of Florida and 26 other states argued that the individual mandate provision of the ACA violates the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

. In 2018, Bondi joined with 19 other Republican-led states in a lawsuit to overturn the ACA's bans on health insurance companies charging people with

pre-existing condition In the context of healthcare in the United States, a pre-existing condition is a medical condition that started before a person's health insurance went into effect. Before 2014, some insurance policies would not cover expenses due to pre-existi ...

s higher premiums or denying them coverage outright. In 2013, Bondi persuaded Governor

Rick Scott Richard Lynn Scott ( Myers, born December 1, 1952) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Party (U ...

to postpone a scheduled

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

because it conflicted with a fundraising event. After questions were raised in the media, Bondi apologized for moving the execution date. Bondi was re-elected in November 2014, receiving 55% of the vote. Her challenger George Sheldon, the former acting commissioner of the

Administration for Children and Families The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is a division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It is headed by the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Children and Families. It has a $49 billi ...

, received 42%. Bondi opposed

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

and other

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, ...

issues on behalf of the state. Following the 2016

Orlando nightclub shooting On , 2016, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old man, killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States. Orlando Police officers shot and killed him after a three-hour standoff. In a ...

in June 2016, Bondi was interviewed by CNN reporter

Anderson Cooper Anderson Hays Cooper (born June 3, 1967) is an American broadcast journalist and political commentator from the Vanderbilt family. He is the primary anchor of the CNN news broadcast show '' Anderson Cooper 360°''. In addition to his duties a ...

, who said that Bondi's expression of support for the LGBT community was at odds with her past record. Cooper said that Bondi was "either mistaken or not telling the truth," while Bondi accused Cooper of fomenting "anger and hate." In August 2018, while still serving as Florida Attorney General, Bondi co-hosted '' The Five'' on

three days in a row while also appearing on Sean Hannity's Fox News show. Fox News claimed that the Florida Commission on Ethics had approved Bondi's appearance on the program; however, spokeswoman for the commission denied that, telling the ''

Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

'' that no decision was made by the commission and that the commission's

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

did not make a determination whether or not Bondi's appearance as a host violated the Florida Code of Ethics. The ''Tampa Bay Times'' described it as "unprecedented" for a sitting elected official to host a TV show.

Fundraising controversies

Beginning in 2010, Bondi's association with

Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a Scientology as a business, business, or a new religious movement. The most recent ...

and the multiple fundraisers that wealthy Scientologists have organized for Bondi's political campaigns have provoked controversy. Bondi has justified those contacts and her speeches before leading Scientologists by arguing that the group wishes to help her crack down on

human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extr ...

. In 2011, Bondi also pressured two attorneys to resign who were investigating Lender Processing Services, a

financial services Financial services are the economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, accountancy companies, ...

company now known as

Black Knight The black knight is a literary stock character who masks his identity and that of his liege by not displaying heraldry. Black knights are usually portrayed as villainous figures who use this anonymity for misdeeds. They are often contrasted with t ...

, following the robosigning scandal, as part of their work for Florida's Economic Crime Division. After the resignations, Bondi received campaign contributions from Lender Processing Services, though she denied any

quid pro quo Quid pro quo ('what for what' in Latin) is a Latin phrase used in English to mean an exchange of goods or services, in which one transfer is contingent upon the other; "a favor for a favor". Phrases with similar meanings include: "give and take", ...

. In 2013, Bondi also received criticism following a campaign donation from

. Prior to the donation, Bondi had received at least 22 fraud complaints regarding

Trump University Trump University (also known as the Trump Wealth Institute and Trump Entrepreneur Initiative LLC) was an American company that ran a real estate training program from 2005 until 2010. It was owned and operated by The Trump Organization. A sep ...

. A spokesperson for Bondi announced that her office was considering joining a lawsuit initiated by

Eric Schneiderman Eric Tradd Schneiderman (born December 31, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 65th Attorney General of New York from 2011 until his resignation in May 2018. Schneiderman, a member of the Democratic Party, spent ten year ...

, the

Attorney General of New York The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government ...

, regarding tax fraud potential charges against Trump. Four days later, however, a political action committee established by Bondi to support her re-election, And Justice for All, received a $25,000 donation from the Donald J. Trump Foundation, after which Bondi declined to join the lawsuit against Trump University. Both Bondi and Trump defended the propriety of the nonprofit foundation's political donation. In 2016, after

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) and nonpartisan U.S. government ethics and accountability watchdog organization.''Washington Information Directory 2017-2018''; CQ Press; 2017; Pg. 327 Founded ...

filed a complaint with the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory t ...

regarding the 2013 Trump donation, the Trump Foundation stated that the donation had been made in error. It said that the Foundation had intended for the donation to go not to Bondi's PAC, but instead to an unrelated

Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...

non-profit called Justice for All. However, in June 2016, as Bondi was facing renewed criticism over the Trump donation and her decision not to join the lawsuit, her spokesman said that Bondi had solicited the donation directly from Trump several weeks before her office announced it was considering joining the lawsuit against him. On March 14, 2016, Bondi endorsed Trump in the 2016 Florida Republican presidential primary, saying she has been friends with Trump for many years. In June 2016, a spokesperson for Governor

stated that the state's ethics commission is looking into the matter, though nothing further came from the investigation. In September 2016, the IRS determined that the donation to Bondi's PAC violated laws against political contributions from nonprofit organizations, and ordered Trump to pay a fine for the contribution. Trump also was required to reimburse the foundation for the sum that had been donated to Bondi. Neither Bondi nor her PAC were fined or criminally charged. In November 2019, Trump was ordered by a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

state court to close down the foundation and pay $2 million in damages for misusing it, including the illegal donation to Bondi. In 2021, ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

'' reported that it obtained records relating to Trump's illegal donation to Bondi, which show that Trump's organization knew that the money was being given to a PAC in Florida rather than a Kansas non-profit. The records include an email in August 2013 from Bondi's campaign finance director Deborah Ramsey Aleksander to Trump’s executive assistant, Rhona Graff, identifying the PAC as an Electioneering Communications Organization and thanking Graff for meeting with her, for the promised $25,000 donation, and "for always being so responsive and wonderful to work with". A spokesperson for

called these documents "a smoking gun" that destroys the story that Trump and Bondi had concocted to excuse the donation.

Association with Donald Trump

In 2016, Bondi gave a speech at the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

, during which she led " Lock her up" chants directed at the Democratic nominee

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

. In 2019, after her final term as Florida attorney general, Bondi was hired by Ballard Partners, a firm with close ties to Trump, and she began working as a registered

lobbyist In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

for

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

. In November 2019, she was hired by the

Trump administration Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...

to help the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

during Trump's first impeachment proceedings, being given

special Government employee Under the federal law of the United States, the term "special Government employee" (SGE) refers to an advisor, expert or consultant who is appointed to work with federal government. The role of special Government employees is defined in 18 U.S.C. � ...

status, allowing Bondi to continue working for the Arab lobby. Her position was described the following month as being to "attack the process" of the impeachment inquiry. On January 17, 2020, Bondi was named as part of Trump's defense team for the Senate impeachment trial. During the course of the impeachment trial, Bondi made debunked

allegations In law, an allegation is a claim of an unproven fact by a party in a pleading, charge, or defense. Until they can be proved, allegations remain merely assertions.

that former

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

Joe Biden and his son

Hunter Biden Robert Hunter Biden (born February 4, 1970) is an American attorney who is the second son of U.S. President Joe Biden and his first wife Neilia Hunter Biden. He is also a hedge fund, venture capital, and private-equity fund investor who for ...

were involved in

corruption in Ukraine Corruption is a historical issue in Ukrainian society often tied to a troubled relationship with Russia. Since regaining independence from Russia; Ukraine has faced a series of politicians, criminal bosses, and oligarchs who used corruption of ...

, stemming from Hunter Biden's position on board of Burisma Holdings. It was also revealed that

Lev Parnas Lev Parnas (born February 6, 1972) is a Ukrainian-born American businessman and associate of Rudy Giuliani. Parnas, Giuliani, Igor Fruman, John Solomon, Yuriy Lutsenko, Dmytro Firtash and his allies, Victoria Toensing and Joe diGenova were ...

, a businessman with close ties to

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 19 ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

, had several meetings with Bondi in 2018 while she was the Florida Attorney General, and after she left office in 2019. In 2019, Parnas was arrested and accused of illegally funneling foreign money from

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...

and

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

to Republican politicians, particularly in Florida, where he lived. Bondi spoke in support of Trump at the 2020 Republican National Convention. While ballots were being counted in the

2020 United States presidential election The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala H ...

, Bondi supported Trump's baseless claims that there was large-scale

voter fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share of ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. In an appearance on

on November 5, 2020, host

Steve Doocy ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

challenged Bondi to provide evidence for her claims of fraud, to which she refused. Bondi later claimed that Trump had won Pennsylvania, despite votes there still being counted, with his opponent Joe Biden ultimately winning the state. During the following lame-duck session, Trump appointed Bondi to the board of trustees of the

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

. The ''

Palm Beach Post ''The Palm Beach Post'' is an American daily newspaper serving Palm Beach County in South Florida, and parts of the Treasure Coast. On March 18, 2018, in a deal worth US$42.35 million, ''The Palm Beach Post'' and ''The Palm Beach Daily News'' we ...

'' described the appointment as a reward for her loyalty to Trump.

Personal life

Bondi married Garret Barnes in 1990; the couple divorced after 22 months of marriage. In 1996, Bondi married Scott Fitzgerald; they divorced in 2002. She was engaged to Greg Henderson in 2012. She is a member of the

Junior League The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (Junior League or JL) is a private, nonprofit educational women's volunteer organization aimed at improving communities and the social, cultural, and political fabric of civil society. With ...

Electoral history

References

External links

Pam Bondi for Attorney General
(Campaign website - not found on 1/31/2019) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bondi, Pam 1965 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 2016 United States presidential electors American prosecutors American women lawyers C. Leon King High School alumni Florida Attorneys General Florida lawyers Florida Republicans Living people Politicians from Tampa, Florida People from Temple Terrace, Florida Stetson University College of Law alumni University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences alumni Women in Florida politics Members of the Junior League American lawyers and judges of Italian descent Members of the defense counsel for the first impeachment trial of Donald Trump