What to Know About New AG Nominee Pam Bondi

Matt Gaetz is out and Pam Bondi is in as the new nominee for attorney general. Here are some highlights from the slew of biographical pieces now moving about her:

• A first: The big fact about the 59-year-old Bondi is that she served as the first female attorney general of Florida from 2011-2019, notes the AP. Before that, she was a prosecutor in Hillsborough County for nearly 20 years. She thus has far more experience for the post than Gaetz, as well as less political baggage. The Hill sees her as a "more palatable choice" for Senate Republicans.
• As attorney general: The Tallahassee Democrat hits key moments of her AG tenure, including how she led an unsuccessful multistate lawsuit to overturn ObamaCare. Bondi also "led a statewide effort to eliminate 'pill mills,' pulled the state into a lawsuit against Obama's immigration policy, defended Florida's same-sex marriage ban (although she has said she was simply upholding the constitution), co-authored a presidential report on the opioid crisis and worked with multiple agencies and legislators for programs and laws to fight fentanyl trafficking."

• Trump's circle: Bondi was a Democrat until 2000 before switching parties. In more recent years, she has become "one of Donald Trump's most loyal supporters," per Politico. She worked on his first presidential transition team, assisted in his first impeachment fight, and played a public role in his effort to overturn the 2020 election. She is also close to Trump daughter-in-law Lara Trump and is a partner at Ballard Partners, the lobbying firm previously run by incoming Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles.
• Conservative bona fides: Bondi has leadership roles with the Center for Litigation and the Center for Law and Justice at the America First Policy Institute, per the Washington Post, which adds: "Her selection for a Cabinet role reinforces the right-wing think tank's status as a leading source of political appointees for Trump's second term."
• Controversies: In 2013, Bondi apologized for getting the execution of a prisoner delayed in Florida because it conflicted with a political fundraiser for her. Bondi was accused of improperly accepting a $25,000 donation from Trump in 2013 as she weighed joining a case against Trump University. She eventually opted not to join the litigation, per the New York Times. Politico also notes an odd controversy involving a dog she adopted in 2005 after it became separated from its owners during Hurricane Katrina. She ended up returning the animal after a 16-month legal fight.

(More Pam Bondi stories.)