Examining the record of Pam Bondi, Trump's new pick for attorney ...

Amna Nawaz:

Welcome to the "News Hour."

President-elect Donald Trump's new pick to lead the Department of Justice is receiving a much warmer reception Capitol Hill and within the Republican Party. Trump announced former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi just hours after his first choice, scandal-plagued former Congressman Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration.

Laura Barron-Lopez is here with more on Bondi's backgrounds.

Laura, who is Pam Bondi? What should we know?

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Well, she has a long resume and a lot of experience working with Donald Trump. So let's start from the beginning.

From 2011 to 2019, she was the first female Florida attorney general in that state. And then, in 2019, she worked on Donald Trump's first impeachment defense team. From 2019 to 2023, Bondi was a lobbyist with Ballard Partners, which is the firm of a top Republican fund-raiser.

And it's also where Donald Trump's chief of staff, Susie Wiles, used to work. And then, in 2024, Bondi chaired the legal arm of the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute. So she's overseen — being attorney general in Florida, she's overseeing an office that both prosecutes and defends civil and criminal actions on behalf of that state, Amna.

And so that's something that could ultimately work in her favor because she has a lot more experience than her predecessor, Matt Gaetz, had. She also is a notable TV contributor, especially on FOX News, which is something that also works in her favor with Donald Trump.

Amna Nawaz:

So what does the fact that Mr. Trump picked her say about his plans for the Justice Department?

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Ultimately, a lot of these picks, even Pam Bondi, goes back to the fact that Donald Trump wants someone who he considers a staunch ally, someone who he considers a loyalist. And she is definitely that.

And as one source close to the transition put it, they really believe that she will be — she will execute exactly what Donald Trump wants. And Pam Bondi herself has talked extensively about what she thinks should be done at the Justice Department.

Pam Bondi (R), Former Florida Attorney General: The Department of Justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted, the bad ones. The investigators will be investigated, because the deep state, last term for President Trump, they were hiding in the shadows. But now they have a spotlight on them.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Despite comments like that, despite the fact that she is very much a loyalist and appears ready to execute exactly what Donald Trump wants when it comes to potentially persecuting his enemies, it appears as though she is someone who Republicans are much more responsive to.

Amna Nawaz:

Well, you mentioned that they go back years, the relationship between Bondi and Trump. What should we know about that?

Laura Barron-Lopez:

So they have had a long relationship, as we said.

I spoke to Eric Lipton, a reporter at The New York Times who's done extensive work exposing growing relationships between state attorneys general and lobbyists who were trying to curry favor with attorneys general specifically to get them to stop investigations that they may have been pursuing.

And Lipton highlighted one incident in particular that stood out regarding that was in 2020 — that was 2013 regarding Donald Trump's charity.

Eric Lipton, The New York Times:

Pam Bondi was being asked, are you going to investigate Trump University as well? And it turns out, at just about that same time, she solicited a donation from Donald Trump for her reelection effort in Florida, and she ended up receiving a $25,000 donation from the Trump Foundation to a political action committee associated with her.

And then, ultimately, her office decided not to investigate Trump University. So Pam Bondi, it was a sequence of events that drew a lot of scrutiny.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

That donation that was made by Donald Trump's charity to Pam Bondi's political action committee was illegal Amna, and it was one as well as a number of other similar donations that Trump's charity made that he ultimately ended up being fined for by the IRS and having to pay a penalty on.

Again it doesn't appear, though, as that history and that scrutiny that she received then and that Trump's charity received may ultimately hurt her nomination. So

Amna Nawaz:

we also mentioned a warmer reception on Capitol Hill so far. What have you seen in the way of reaction from senators to Pam Bondi's nomination?

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who sits on the Judiciary Committee, is expected to become the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, called Bondi a grand slam.

And he posted on X that she will be confirmed quickly because she deserves to be confirmed quickly, so very different sentiment there than compared to Matt Gaetz. And then Josh Hawley, another Republican, told FOX last night that he believes that Pam Bondi is a great pick, that she's up to the task and that he hopes that she overhauls the Justice Department.

One source close to the transition that I spoke to said that they are feeling good about her chances, that they ultimately believe that a lot of Republican senators trust her in a way that they didn't Matt Gaetz.

Amna Nawaz:

So Pam Bondi is replacing Matt Gaetz, who dropped out of consideration. You have also been continuing reporting on that House Ethics Committee report into Matt Gaetz. What should we know?

Laura Barron-Lopez:

So sources that I spoke to today said that they still expect a December 5 meeting of the House Ethics Committee to take place unless it's ultimately canceled. Again, that's about the sexual misconduct report that the committee was putting together.

And the source that I was spoken to said that there are more details in that report that have not come to light, even though some have, about Gaetz's sexual misconduct, and also that ultimately they think — a number of the members on the committee believe that that report does need to come out, that it's so egregious that they believe it's in the public interest, even though Matt Gaetz withdrew.

Amna Nawaz:

All right, that's our Laura Barron-Lopez.

Great reporting on the Trump transition, as always, Laura. Thank you.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Thank you.