Trump’s choice of Pam Bondi as attorney general is key to executing his immigration and retaliation policies

()— With his new pick for attorney general, President-elect Donald Trump found not only a powerful media strategist and loyal ally, but a tenacious litigator known for her court battles on behalf of conservative causes.

And while little about Trump is conventional, Pam Bondi is a much more conventional pick to lead the US Department of Justice than Matt Gaetz, who bowed out after a week of relentless scrutiny from Democrats and Republicans alike.

Bondi’s rise through the state of Florida’s legal system and her loyalty to Trump make her a key implementer of his proposed policies on immigration, reproductive health and political retaliation.

Within the Justice Department, Bondi’s announcement was met mostly with relief by employees who a week ago were dismayed by the prospect of Gaetz and its series of ethical and legal problems.

But Justice Department employees are still bracing for a major disruption, as Trump’s stated plans are to bring the department to heel after being the subject of years of investigations that he says were unfair and politicized.

“Without the baggage,” a Justice Department lawyer said of Bondi, “but it’s still the same orders.”

Some career staffers speculate that, with Gaetz out of the picture, familiar conservative lawyers who have served at the Justice Department in past Republican administrations will be willing to return to help the new Trump administration.

Those career employees hope Bondi and Todd Blanche, Trump’s pick for deputy attorney general, can recruit more lawyers who know the department and understand the delicate balance between independence and also carrying out the president’s policies.

At the same time, Bondi has not held back about the Justice Department while advocating for Trump in this campaign.

“The Department of Justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted, the bad guys,” he said in a television appearance in August 2023. “The investigators will be investigated. Because the deep state, in President Trump’s last term, was hiding in the shadows. But now they have a spotlight on them, and they can all be investigated.”

Bondi prosecuted several high-profile cases during more than a decade as a state prosecutor, including that of former New York Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden, who was sentenced in 2006 to a year in prison for violating his probation by using cocaine.

She was elected in 2011 to her first political position: Attorney General of Florida, and was the first woman to hold that position.

One of Bondi’s top state deputies, prosecutor Nick Cox, who has known Bondi since they were in college Greek life at the University of South Florida, described her as “effusive” and “sweet,” but said “If you crossed her in court or made her angry, run to the door.”

Cox stated that he spoke with Bondi after her nomination was announced, and that she was “very excited.”

“I am sure that he will do everything possible to remain loyal to what he [Trump] wants and what he needs,” Cox said, adding that he doesn’t believe Bondi would “cross the line” to file charges based on politics. “But when it comes to criminal prosecutions, we have nothing to worry about.”

Retired State’s Attorney Bruce Colton, who collaborated on cases with Bondi’s office at the time, recalled how Bondi would give out his personal phone number so local offices could contact him with any problems. “Knowing her as a trial attorney and prosecutor,” Colton told , “I feel like she would be very qualified for this job.”

Dave Aronberg, a Palm Beach County prosecutor who worked for Bondi when he was attorney general in Florida, told that while Bondi will carry out Trump’s policies loyally, he will likely treat Justice Department employees fairly.

“He will not intentionally break the law to ensnare Trump’s enemies,” Aronberg says.

But Aronberg did say that Bondi is expected to order more special counsel investigations, like what we saw with attorney John Durham, who investigated possible misconduct in the FBI’s investigation into Trump and Russia.

“I’m sure he’ll do controversial things like John Durham-style investigations, but we’ve been through that, and he’ll be fine,” Aronberg said.

And for Trump’s opponents, Aronberg said don’t expect a better pick for attorney general.

“Pam Bondi is the best attorney general that Donald Trump is going to nominate,” Aronberg added. “We must choose our battles.”

During his eight years as attorney general, Bondi unsuccessfully brought cases seeking to undermine the Affordable Care Act and fought to uphold Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage.

Bondi was at the forefront of the challenge before the Supreme Court in 2012 of President Barack Obama’s health care law and, as attorney general, could now be in a position to work to once again undermine the Affordable Care Act. Trump himself has given contradictory signals about his health program.

As Joan Biskupic reported at the time for Reutersas other Republican state officials across the country scrambled to be the first to test Obamacare in the Supreme Court, Bondi and other Florida state attorneys flew to Washington to select powerful appellate lawyers to represent the state. Bondi borrowed a conference room from the Washington law firm where his brother was a partner to quickly interview top candidates.

Florida narrowly lost its Supreme Court case in June 2012, when a 5-4 decision in favor of upholding the ACA almost went the other way. Chief Justice John Roberts changed his vote at the end of private negotiations, handing victory to the Obama administration.

Bondi too fought for years to uphold the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, and only abandoned its series of appeals aimed at upholding Florida’s constitutional amendment after the historic 2015 Supreme Court decision ruled that same-sex couples can marry throughout the country.

He also made the fight against so-called “pill mills,” which are facilities that prescribe painkillers without sufficient diagnosis or documentation to do so, a central element of his platform.

Although her cases often dealt with hot-button issues, Bondi herself made headlines for her political maneuvering, as she became increasingly partisan during her two terms.

She came under fire in 2013 for persuading then-governor Rick Scott to postpone a 2013 execution because it conflicted with a fundraiser for his re-election campaign.He later apologized.

That same year, Trump’s foundation made a contribution of US$25,000 to Bondi’s political action committee during his re-election bid, a donation that Democrats later alleged influenced Bondi to drop a fraud investigation into Trump University. (A Florida ethics panel cleared Bondi of wrongdoing in that matter.)

Since stepping down as Florida attorney general in 2019, Bondi has worked for Ballard Partners, a lobbying firm with deep ties to Trump and his incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles.

There, Bondi represented the country of Qatar from 2019 to 2020, according to documents submitted to the federal government by the firm under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which say she helped “provide guidance and assistance in matters related to the fight against human trafficking.”

He has also lobbied on behalf of large corporations such as Amazon, General Motors and Uber.

During the 2016 presidential election, Bondi became a top Florida surrogate for the Trump campaign and her support for the president-elect has remained unchanged.

When Trump faced impeachment for the first time, Bondi joined the defense team for his Senate trial and baselessly accused then-private citizen Joe Biden of corrupt dealings with his son Hunter.

He attacked the Bidens again in the 2020 Republican National Convention and promoted unfounded theories about electoral fraud. For example, he claimed that “false ballots” were being counted in Pennsylvania after Trump lost his second bid for the White House. saying that “yes we have evidence of cheating” and “we are not going anywhere until they declare that we won Pennsylvania.”

She is now listed as president of the Litigation Center of the pro-Trump America First Policy Institute, where she has helped lead its work against the so-called “militarization” of the Justice Department. He has also repeatedly complained in the media about the Justice Department’s focus on political cases — such as those against Trump — rather than focusing on violent crimes.

‘s Joan Biskupic contributed to this report.