Bye Bye Bondi
Pam Bondi has been fired as attorney general, but the battle for justice continues against a regime that favors fealty to a vengeful boss
I wish that I could cheer the firing yesterday of Pam Bondi as the Attorney General of the United States. She has exemplified the failure of Donald Trump’s Department of Justice to demonstrate a commitment to its most fundamental responsibilities—to uphold the rule of law, to protect the innocent and prosecute the guilty, to serve justice.
Look no farther than the Justice Department’s own website for a summary of the values which we should expect and which Pam Bondi egregiously, disgracefully abandoned in her obedience to the vengeful Trump. In the DOJ’s own words, those values should include:
Independence and Impartiality. We work each day to earn the public’s trust by following the facts and the law wherever they may lead, without prejudice or improper influence.
Honesty and Integrity. Our employees adhere to the highest standards of ethical behavior, mindful that, as public servants, we must work to earn the trust of, and inspire confidence in, the public we serve.
Respect. Our employees value differences in people and in ideas and treat everyone with fairness, dignity, and compassion.
Excellence. We work every day to provide the highest levels of service to the American people and to be a responsible steward of the taxpayers’ dollars.
But those were not the values of the contemptuous Pam Bondi and her Justice Department. Every day she held the office, she mocked those values.
Please do not forget her actions when she appeared before the House Judiciary Committee in February. She was there in part to answer questions about the Epstein cover-up and her refusal to release all the Epstein files as required by law.
But Bondi used her time that day to attack sitting members of Congress with pre-planned insults, praise the man she worked for as “the greatest president in American history,” lie that there is “no evidence that Donald Trump has committed a crime,” and infamously insist (rather than investigate Epstein’s co-conspirators) that “the Dow is over 50,000 right now…That’s what we should be talking about.”
As I put it then, honestly struggling to keep my cool:
It’s hard to imagine someone more overtly hostile to justice and more utterly incapable of basic human compassion than the contemptuous Pamela Jo Bondi.
This person is paid by us. This person is responsible for serving the people. This person’s duty is to enforce the law.
But when asked for the most basic show of humanity, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Not even to turn around and acknowledge more than a dozen victims of rapist Jeffrey Epstein and other rich and powerful participants in his sex trafficking operation.
A year earlier, on January 15, 2025, this smug individual appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee in an effort to secure confirmation as Attorney General. She played very dumb:
Asked by Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono about Trump calling felonious Jan. 6 attackers “patriots” and “hostages,” Bondi said, “I am not familiar with that statement.”
Asked by California Sen. Alex Padilla about birthright citizenship and whether she will defend it, “regardless of parents’ immigration status,” Bondi said, “Senator, I will study birthright citizenship.”
Asked by Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Judiciary Committee’s ranking member, about the list of enemies published by Kash Patel, she said, “I don’t believe he has an enemies list.”
As I summarized then: “In a sane, alternate world where nominees for cabinet positions such as Attorney General would feel duty-bound to provide knowledgeable answers to serious questions, someone like Pam Bondi would be laughed off the dais and roundly rejected.”
But Bondi was confirmed, ensuring that her contemptuous abandonment of justice would be her defining legacy. It’s an almost laughable irony that her firing by Trump was not because of her corruption, fealty and unjust prosecution of perceived political enemies, but likely because she didn’t go far enough in matching Trump’s hunger for vengeance and his commitment to deep-sixing the Epstein case and wiping away any signs that he was involved.
Don’t just listen to me. Consider the statements of three leaders compelled to address the ugly ways Bondi violated the office of the attorney general:
Public Citizen Co-President Lisa Gilbert:
No one can be loyal enough. No one can punish Trump’s enemies fast enough. Pam Bondi took the DOJ in a lawless, non-independent, shameful direction, and the institution of justice has suffered as a result. Bondi has trivialized the DOJ, the sanctity of law and the attorney general position.
Democratic Women’s Caucus Chair Teresa Leger Fernández:
Pam Bondi consistently failed women across the country during her time as Attorney General—including through her egregious cover-up of the Epstein files and disrespect for survivors. Bondi continuously shielded perpetrators while she exposed, scrutinized and haunted survivors at every turn. We will never forget her inhumane treatment of survivors—including her failure to recognize, apologize, or even look at them when these brave women stood feet behind her on Capitol Hill.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington President Donald K. Sherman:
Attorney General Bondi unapologetically weaponized the Department of Justice for the president’s personal and political grievances, undermined the rule of law and jeopardized the integrity of the nation’s premier law enforcement agency. The fact that she appears to have lost her job for not attacking Trump’s enemies more aggressively, rather than her inept and dangerous leadership, means the Senate must demand any potential replacement focus on restoring the Department of Justice’s independence and integrity, ending politicized investigations and defending the rule of law.
For now, Trump has installed his former personal lawyer and Deputy AG Todd Blanche as the acting AG. (Lee Zeldin, now dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency for Trump, may be his full-time pick for AG.) He’s the guy who made it possible for Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s criminal partner in child rape and sex trafficking, to move to a minimum-security prison with perks after she refused to say a bad word about Trump. That refusal was exactly what Blanche wanted, since he too works for Trump’s protection rather than justice.
While Bondi’s exit is good news, we have every reason to expect that Blanche will only accelerate the vengeful desires of his boss and keep the coverup going. It’s another reminder that as many villains as we might identify among this regime, the most villainous fact is that there are always others ready to carry out the boss’ corrupt and criminal goals.
Accountability cannot come soon enough for Trump, Bondi and all the others who have prioritized the whims of a reckless despot over their duty to the Constitution and the values of our democratic nation.
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Sadly, there’s a deep bench in the hell that is MAGA. Always seems to be someone worse subbing in.
We can only continue to link arms, grit our teeth, and remember that the only way forward is through this. Mobilize, look after one another and make a plan to vote. If the reformers and activists who carried us through the upheavals of our nation's past could do it, so can we. And vow to hold those who have broken our country to account.