- Gaetz quit when Trump told him he didn’t have the votes to be confirmed
Donald Trump moved quickly to find a new nominee for attorney general on Thursday, announcing former Florida AG Pam Bondi as his choice to lead the country’s justice system.
Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration earlier in the day when it became clear that an ongoing scandal left him without the votes to be confirmed to the Senate.
“Pam served as a prosecutor for nearly 20 years, where she took tough action against violent criminals and made the streets safe for Florida families,” Trump wrote on Truth Social when he made the announcement.
“Subsequently, as Florida’s first female attorney general, she worked to stop the deadly drug trade and reduce the tragedy of fentanyl overdose deaths that have devastated many families across our country.”
Trump has made it clear that he wants a disruptor in his role, someone who will overhaul the Justice Department and help push his agenda from day one.
That should have been Gaetz, a combative congressman from Florida. But he withdrew after eight turbulent days in the spotlight.
He had been investigated by the Justice Department, which left him with a shocking choice to lead it. And a drip, drip, drip of headlines about a sex scandal showed no signs of letting up.
“While momentum has been strong, it is clear that my nomination unfairly became a distraction from the critical work of the Trump/Vance transition,” he said in announcing his withdrawal, a day after meeting with senators in a attempt to win them over. .
Donald Trump moved quickly to find a new nominee for attorney general on Thursday, announcing former Florida AG Pam Bondi as his choice to lead the country’s justice system
U.S. President Donald Trump (L) watches as Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a meeting with state and local officials on school safety in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on February 22, 2018 in Washington, DC
He withdrew after a somber phone call with Trump in which the president-elect made it clear that the math was not on his side.
It was the biggest setback yet for Trump since he was re-elected on November 5, as he tries to avoid the chaos of his first administration.
Bondi, 59, is another Trump loyalist with a combative streak.
In 2013, she rose to fame by convincing then-governor to delay an execution so she could hold a fundraising campaign.
She was part of Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment and served on his Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission.
And she supported Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
And most recently, she chaired the legal department of the America First Policy Institute, which has created a framework for his new administration.
Trump, who won re-election despite being the subject of multiple criminal investigations by US and state prosecutors, said Bondi would end the politicization of federal prosecutions.
Trump made his announcement with a post on his Truth Social site
Trump and Bondi at the Palm Beach Lincoln Day Dinner at Mar-a-Lago in 2016
“For too long, the partisan Justice Department has been weaponized against me and other Republicans – not anymore,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
“Pam will refocus the DOJ on its intended purpose: fighting crime and making America safe again.”
Her confirmation hearings will likely sift through a controversial donation she received from Trump during his first campaign.
In 2016, his foundation made a $25,000 donation to a campaign group tied to Florida’s attorney general at a time when it was considering launching an investigation into Trump University.
Trump was fined after it emerged that the donation had not been disclosed to tax officials.
However, she will sidestep some of the criticism leveled at Gaetz. Unlike him, her resume is packed with the kind of legal experience expected of the nation’s top lawyer.