TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — President-elect Donald Trump introduced Thursday he’ll nominate former Florida Legal professional Normal Pam Bondi to be U.S. Legal professional Normal.
The announcement got here simply hours after his first choose, former Congressman Matt Gaetz, withdrew from consideration.
“For too lengthy, the partisan Division of Justice has been weaponized in opposition to me and different Republicans – Not anymore,” Trump wrote in a submit on Reality Social. “Pam will refocus the DOJ to its meant objective of preventing Crime, and Making America Secure Once more. I’ve identified Pam for a few years — She is sensible and hard, and is an AMERICA FIRST Fighter, who will do a terrific job as Legal professional Normal!”
Bondi, who’s from Tampa, served because the thirty seventh Florida legal professional common from 2011 to 2019 and made historical past as the primary girl elected to the workplace. She spent greater than 18 years as a prosecutor in Hillsborough County earlier than that.
She can also be a longtime Trump ally, having served as one among Trump’s protection legal professionals throughout his first impeachment trial in 2020 and as a chair on the American First Coverage Institute, a suppose tank arrange by former Trump administration staffers.
Gaetz was initially slated to fill the place however withdrew amid continued fallout over a federal intercourse trafficking investigation that solid doubt on his potential to be confirmed. The investigation ended final yr with no prices, and Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing.
He got here to his resolution after assembly with senators a day beforehand.
“I recognize their considerate suggestions – and the unbelievable help of so many,” Gaetz wrote on social media. “Whereas the momentum was robust, it’s clear that my affirmation was unfairly turning into a distraction to the essential work of the Trump/Vance Transition.”
