For starters, it is a good thing that Republican Senators showed sufficient force to compel President- elect Donald Trump to tell former Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz to fall on his sword and withdraw his candidacy to be U.S. Attorney General. While it remains to be seen if Gaetz engaged in illegal activities with underaged women, his behavior is certainly boorish and unbecoming. It was far too much for Senate Republicans to bear.
But I am inclined to think that this will be the exception rather than the rule where it concerns Trump's appointees. It very much remains to be seen if Republican Senators will be prepared to push this hard with his other more controversial appointments namely Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary, Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Even if one or more of the aforementioned candidates withdraws from consideration, Trump is going to get a Secretary of Defense, a Director of National Intelligence, a Secretary of Health and Human Services and an Attorney General be it by confirmation or by recess appointment.
Which brings me to Pam Bondi. I remember Bondi when she was an up-and-coming Republican star as Florida Attorney General in the 2010s with her frequent appearances on Fox News. In particular, I remember her as part of a panel during the 2012 Republican presidential primary which aired on FOX News in December 2011. There were six GOP hopefuls at that forum - Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann.
In addition to Bondi, the other Republican Attorney Generals who were part of that panel were Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt. Cuccinelli later ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Virginia and was the subject of several dubious acting appointments in the first Trump Administration in the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Department of Homeland Security. In March 2020, a federal judge ruled that Cuccinelli's appointments were unlawful and all decisions he made were rendered invalid.
Meanwhile, Pruitt was Trump's EPA Director until he was forced to resign in July 2018 after numerous ethics and management scandals emerged. He subsequently made a bid for the GOP Senate nomination in 2022 in Oklahoma following Jim Inhofe's retirement finishing a distant fifth to Markwayne Mullin who now holds the seat.
As for Bondi, during her tenure as Florida AG, declined to pursue a civil matter against Trump University after receiving an unlawful $25,000 donation from the Donald J. Trump Foundation. Bondi also spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention and lead chants of, "Lock her up!" against Hillary Clinton. During Trump's first tenure, the former was sufficient for Trump to keep Bondi at bay. As David Graham wrote in The Atlantic. "In 2017, Bondi was passed over for an administration role for fear that she was too scandal-tainted. This time around, she’s the safe, acceptable fallback choice."
Bondi will also be well-suited to implement Trump's retribution agenda. A member of Trump's defense team during both of his impeachment proceedings, Bondi has stated, "Prosecutors will be prosecuted." That means Jack Smith, Fani Willis and Alvin Bragg. Even though she wasn't technically a prosecutor perhaps this also means Liz Cheney with her work as Vice-Chair of the January 6th Committee.
Assuming she doesn't get a recess appointment, I hope Democratic Senators on the Judiciary Committee will ask Bondi a) if she believes that Donald Trump is above the law and b) any investigation into his activities is, by definition, a criminal act.
I also hope the Senate Judiciary Committee does some digging during her time as a registered foreign agent for Qatar during her association with Ballard Partners. Given that Qatar has until very recently harbored Hamas officials, perhaps Bondi provided advice to the Qataris with regard to protecting Hamas members. It might not be a good look if it can be shown that Bondi has ties to a terrorist organization.
For her part, Bondi has called upon the FBI to question pro-Hamas campus protesters. Nevertheless, I think Democrats ought to dig deep regarding her work with the Qatari government because if a foreign agent deals with Qatar there's a very good chance that she also dealt with Hamas.
But Trump is going to get an Attorney General sooner or later and it is more likely than not it will be Pam Bondi.
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