Pam Bondi

Pamela Jo Bondi ( ; born November 17, 1965) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who has served as the 87th United States attorney general since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, she served as the 37th attorney general of Florida from 2011 to 2019, the first woman elected to the office.

In 2020, Bondi was one of President Donald Trump's defense lawyers during his first impeachment trial. By 2024, she led the legal arm of the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute. On November 21, 2024, then-president-elect Trump announced she would be nominated for attorney general after former representative Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration. She was confirmed in a 54–46 Senate vote on February 4, 2025, and sworn in the next day.

Early life and education

Pamela Jo Bondi was born on November 17, 1965. Her 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."The first Italian American in the new Trump administration will be Pamela Jo Bondi"
Wetheitalians.com. November 22, 2024. Her younger brother, Bradley Bondi, is a lawyer.

Bondi received a Bachelor of Arts with a major in criminal justice from the University of Florida in 1987 and a Juris Doctor from the Stetson University College of Law in 1990. She was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority as an undergraduate student. Bondi was admitted to the Florida Bar on June 24, 1991."Lawyer info-Pam Bondi"
Florida Bar, Find a Lawyer

Early career

Bondi was a prosecutor and spokeswoman in Hillsborough County, Florida, where she was an assistant state attorney. Bondi prosecuted former Major League Baseball player Dwight Gooden 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.

Florida attorney general (2011–2019)

Elections

Bondi ran for Florida attorney general in the 2010 election, facing off against former state representative Holly Benson and lieutenant governor Jeff Kottkamp in the Republican primary. In a competitive field, Bondi notably received the support of former governor of Alaska Sarah Palin. ''The Palm Beach Post'' credited her surge in support in the primary to her media-savviness, including regular appearances on Fox News and her public association with Sean Hannity.

Polling conducted by Mason Dixon in August 2010 found her leading both Benson and Kottkamp in the primary. She ultimately won the primary with 37.89% of the vote. In the general election, she faced Democratic nominee Dan Gelber, a former prosecutor who spent 10 years in the state legislature. She ultimately comfortably defeated Gelber to become the state's first female attorney general.

Bondi was re-elected in November 2014, receiving 55% of the vote. Her Democratic challenger George Sheldon, the former acting commissioner of the Administration for Children and Families, received 42%.

Tenure

Bondi was the lead attorney general in an unsuccessful lawsuit seeking to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (known as Obamacare) in '' Florida et al v. United States Department of Health and Human Services''. 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.

In 2011, Bondi pressured two attorneys to resign who were investigating Lender Processing Services, a financial services company now known as Black Knight, following the robosigning scandal, as part of their work for Florida's Economic Crime Division.

In 2013, Bondi persuaded Governor Rick Scott to postpone a scheduled execution because it conflicted with a fundraising event. After questions were raised in the media, Bondi apologized for moving the execution date.

In 2013, Bondi expressed her opposition to medical marijuana.

Bondi's association with Scientology and the multiple fundraisers that 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.

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 conditions higher premiums or denying them coverage outright.

Bondi defended Amendment 2, a 2008 amendment to the Florida Constitution banning same-sex marriage, against legal challenges on behalf of the state. Bondi said that these actions did not reflect her opinions on same-sex marriage, but were out of respect for the constitution. Following the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting in June 2016, Bondi was interviewed by CNN reporter Anderson Cooper, who said that Bondi's expression of support for the LGBT community was at odds with her past record.

In August 2018, while still serving as Florida attorney general, Bondi co-hosted '' The Five'' on Fox News 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, the spokeswoman for the commission denied that, telling the ''Tampa Bay Times'' that no decision was made by the commission and that the commission's general counsel 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.

Trump donation to Bondi PAC

In 2013, Bondi received criticism following a campaign donation from Donald Trump. Prior to the donation, Bondi had received at least 22 fraud complaints regarding Trump University. A spokesperson for Bondi announced that her office was considering joining a lawsuit initiated by Eric Schneiderman, the attorney general of New York, regarding tax fraud potential charges against Trump. Four days later And Justice for All, a political action committee established by Bondi to support her , received a $25,000 donation from the Donald J. Trump Foundation. Bondi subsequently declined to join the lawsuit against Trump University. Both Bondi and Trump have defended the propriety of the donation.

In 2016, after Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service regarding the donation, the Trump Foundation stated that it had been made in error, intending for the donation to go to Bondi's unrelated Kansas non-profit Justice for All. In June 2016, as Bondi was facing renewed criticism over the issue, her spokesman said that Bondi had solicited the donation directly from Trump several weeks before her office announced it was considering joining the lawsuit. On March 14, 2016, Bondi endorsed Trump in the 2016 Florida Republican presidential primary, saying she had been friends with him for many years. In June 2016, a spokesperson for Governor Rick Scott stated that the state's ethics commission was looking into the matter.

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

Return to private life

Lobbying work

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 foreign agent as a lobbyist for the Embassy of the State of Qatar. She registered as a foreign agent for the Embassy of the State of Qatar and as a partner in the lobbyist firm of Ballard Partners under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. She left the Qatari project in 2019 to work in a temporary position for the White House Counsel for President Trump's first impeachment proceedings.

As a partner at Ballard Partners, she also became a lobbyist for KGL KSCC, a company incorporated in Kuwait. The KGL KSCC lobbying activity was, according to the filed federal lobbying report, for "issues related to potential Global Magnitsky Act violations and imprisonment". The Global Magnitsky Act is a law which allows the U.S. government to sanction government officials implicated in human rights abuses or extreme corruption anywhere in the world. Bondi was lobbying for the Kuwait company to help with a case of claimed extortion. She had reported on her federal lobbying forms that she had a member of the 2017 Presidential Transition Team of the first Trump administration. Bondi worked as a lobbyist at Ballard Partners until her confirmation as U.S. Attorney General. During her time at Ballard Partners, Bondi lobbied for GEO Group, Amazon, Uber, General Motors, the Florida Sheriffs Association and others.

Trump's first impeachment proceedings

In November 2019, she was hired by the first Trump administration to help the White House during Trump's first impeachment proceedings. 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 allegations that former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter were involved in corruption in Ukraine, stemming from the younger Biden's position on board of Burisma Holdings. It was also revealed that Lev Parnas, a businessman with close ties to Rudy Giuliani and Ukraine, 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 and Russians to Republican politicians, particularly in Florida, where he lived.

2020 presidential election

Bondi spoke in support of Trump at the 2020 Republican National Convention. Bondi became a vocal supporter of Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat. While ballots were being counted in the 2020 United States presidential election, Bondi supported Trump's claims that there was large-scale voter fraud in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

In an appearance on Fox News on November 5, 2020, host Steve Doocy challenged Bondi to provide evidence for her claims of fraud, which she refused to do. Bondi later claimed that Trump had won Pennsylvania, despite votes there still being counted, with his opponent Joe Biden ultimately winning the state.

Board of Trustees and U.S. political advocacy work

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

By 2024, Bondi led the legal arm of the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute, a nonprofit that planned policies for a potential second Trump presidency. She worked to file voting lawsuits in battleground states relating to the 2024 presidential election.

U.S. attorney general (2025–present)

Nomination and confirmation

On November21, 2024, president-elect Trump announced she would be nominated for United States attorney general, after the withdrawal of Matt Gaetz for that position.

There were two hearing at the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, one on January 15, 2025, and the second one on January 16. Bondi was questioned by Democratic Senators over her past work as a lobbyist, the 2020 presidential election results, her relationship with Trump, and her thoughts about TikTok.

On January 29, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved her nomination in a party-line 12–10 vote. She was confirmed in a 54–46 Senate vote on February 4. The only Democratic Senator who voted "aye" was Senator John Fetterman.

Bondi disclosed to the Senate Judiciary committee and the designated ethics official at the U.S. Department of Justice the compensation for her consulting services to Renatus Advisors LLC of Puerto Rico in shares and stock warrants for the merger of Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC) and Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT), which were in turn converted to shares and warrants of DJT on the day of the merger. The compensation for the consulting services totaled $2,969,563.

Tenure

On February 5, 2025, Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas swore Bondi into office as the 87th attorney general.
On Bondi's first day in office, she shut down the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force, shut down the DOJ's Task Force KleptoCapture, and cut back enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Bondi has largely taking an implementation role as attorney general, with key decisions being made by Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and other White House officials.

During the beginning of her tenure, Bondi faced criticism for her handling of the release of the " Epstein Files", which were heavily redacted and offered little new information, leading to accusations that the move was a political stunt rather than a genuine effort at transparency. Even right-wing commentators derided the release as "a lot of redacted nothing", further undermining confidence in her approach to high-profile cases.

In March 2025, Chief Judge James Boasberg of the federal district court in D.C. issued an order to temporarily block the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act deporting alleged members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, and also verbally ordered for the deportation flights "to be returned to the United States", to be "complied with immediately"; however the Trump administration completed the deportations anyway, with Bondi and other Justice Department officials later arguing in a March 17 legal filing that "an oral directive is not enforceable as an injunction".

Bondi and other Justice Department officials then submitted a March 18 legal filing stating that regarding certain details about the deportation flights requested by Judge Boasberg, "there is no justification to order the provision of additional information, and that doing so would be inappropriate". During a media interview on March 19, Bondi said regarding Boasberg: "this judge has no right to ask those questions" regarding details about the deportation flights, and has "no power" to order the Trump administration to stop the deportation flights, as Bondi declared that judges are "meddling in our government".

Following the United States government group chat leak in March 2025, Bondi indicated that the leak would not be investigated stating that the information shared was not classified.

Bondi directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in the Luigi Mangione case.

In April 2025, Bondi said that fentanyl seizures in the first 100 days of Trump's second term as president had saved 21 million lives. Two days later, she increased this estimate to 119 million. Later that week during a cabinet meeting where she praised Trump and said that his first 100 days "far exceeded that of any other presidency in this country", she said that during the same period, DOJ agencies had seized "3,400 kilos of fentanyl…which saved—are you ready for this, media?—258 million lives". These statistics were met with skepticism given that only around 70,000 fentanyl deaths occur in the U.S. each year and the claim of lives saved represents 75% of the US population.

In April 2025, Bondi held a task force meeting on anti-Christian bias.

In May, it was reported that Bondi sold at least $1 million worth of shares in Trump Media on Liberation Day.

Personal life

Bondi is of Italian Mezzogiorno descent, with roots in Campania. She 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. Since 2017, she has been in a relationship with John Wakefield.

Electoral history

See also

* List of female justice ministers
* List of female state attorneys general in the United States
* List of female United States Cabinet members
* List of first women lawyers and judges in Florida

References

External links

*

Pam Bondi at U.S. Department of Justice
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bondi, Pam
1965 births
Living people
2016 United States presidential electors
21st-century Florida politicians
21st-century American women politicians
American lawyers
American people of Italian descent
American prosecutors
American women lawyers
Attorneys general of the United States
Ballard Partners people
C. Leon King High School alumni
Donald Trump attorneys
Florida attorneys general
Florida lawyers
Florida Republicans
Members of the defense counsel for the first impeachment trial of Donald Trump
Members of the Junior League
People from Temple Terrace, Florida
Politicians from Tampa, Florida
Second Trump administration cabinet members
Stetson University College of Law alumni
University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences alumni
Women in Florida politics
Women members of the Cabinet of the United States
2024 United States presidential electors
First women attorneys general