Pam Bondi

Pam Bondi
Official portrait, 2025
87th United States Attorney General
In office
February 5, 2025 – April 2, 2026
PresidentDonald Trump
DeputyTodd Blanche
Preceded byMerrick Garland
Succeeded byTodd Blanche
37th Florida Attorney General
In office
January 4, 2011 – January 8, 2019
GovernorRick Scott
Preceded byBill McCollum
Succeeded byAshley Moody
Personal details
Born
Pamela Jo Bondi

(1965-11-17) November 17, 1965 (age 60)
Tampa, Florida, U.S.
Political partyRepublican (since 2000)
Other political
affiliations		Democratic (until 2000)
Spouse(s)
  • Garret Barnes
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1990; div. 1992)​
  • Scott Fitzgerald
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1996; div. 2002)​
Domestic partnerJohn Wakefield (2017–⁠present)
Education
Occupationattorney, lobbyist, politician
Signature
Bondi's voice
Bondi on the files related to the death of Jeffrey Epstein
Recorded July 8, 2025

Pamela Jo Bondi (born November 17, 1965) is an American attorney who was the 87th United States attorney general from 2025 to 2026. Before, she was the 37th Florida attorney general from 2011 to 2019, being the first woman elected to the office.

In November 2024, then-President-elect Donald Trump announced Bondi to be attorney general after former representative Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration. She was confirmed in a 54–46 Senate vote on February 4, 2025, and sworn in the next day. After facing criticisms over her handling of the release of the Epstein files, Bondi was fired by President Trump in April 2026.

Early life

Bondi was born in Tampa, Florida. She grew up in nearby Temple Terrace.

Bondi graduated from the University of Florida in 1987 with a degree in criminal justice. She earned a Juris Doctor from Stetson Law School in 1990.

Florida Attorney General (2011–2019)

Bondi ran for Florida Attorney General in the 2010 election. She ran against former state representative Holly Benson and lieutenant governor Jeff Kottkamp in the Republican primary. She won the primary with 37.89% of the vote. In the general election, she ran against Democratic nominee Dan Gelber. She won the election with 54% of the vote and became state's first female Attorney General.

Bondi was the lead attorney general in an unsuccessful lawsuit wanting to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In 2018, Bondi joined with 19 other Republican-led states in a lawsuit to overturn the ACA's bans on health insurance companies charging people with medical conditions that got sick before they had insurance. Bondi was against same-sex marriage and other LGBT rights.

In August 2018, while still serving as Florida Attorney General, Bondi co-hosted The Five on Fox News three days in a row.

Bondi was re-elected in November 2014, receiving 55% of the vote.

Support of Donald Trump

In 2016, a supporter of Donald Trump, Bondi gave a speech at the Republican National Convention, during which she started the "Lock her up" chants meant at the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

First Trump impeachment

In November 2019, she was hired by the first Trump administration to help the White House during Trump's first impeachment trial. Her role on the impeachment defense team was to "attack the process" of the impeachment inquiry. On January 17, 2020, Bondi was named as part of Trump's defense team for the Senate impeachment trial.

Bondi with U.S. Representative Mike Johnson (left) and Missouri Attorney General Eric S. Schmitt (right) in 2022

2020 presidential election claims

Bondi spoke in support of Trump at the 2020 Republican National Convention. While votes were being counted in the 2020 United States presidential election, Bondi supported Trump's claims that there was voter fraud in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

On November 5, 2020, host Steve Doocy asked Bondi to show evidence for her claims of fraud, to which she refused. Bondi later claimed that Trump had won Pennsylvania, despite votes there still being counted.

During the final months of his presidency, Trump appointed Bondi to the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

U.S. Attorney General (2025–2026)

Nomination

On November 13, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump announced he would nominate then-U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz to serve as United States attorney general for his second administration. However Gaetz's nomination became controversial after sexual abuse and sex trafficking accusations. A week later on November 21, Gaetz withdrew his nomination.

Bondi at one of her first press conferences as U.S. Attorney General, February 2025

Hours after Gaetz withdrew his nomination, President-elect Trump nominated Bondi to serve as Attorney General.

Bondi had two hearing dates before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on January 15 and January 16, 2025. During her hearing, some issues about her lobbying career with special interest groups and foreign governments were raised. On January 29, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved her nomination in a 12–10 vote, with all Democrats voting against her nomination. On February 3, the United States Senate advanced her nomination for a full vote after voting to limit debate on her nomination by a 52 to 46 vote. She was confirmed in a 54–46 Senate vote on February 4, 2025. The only Democratic Senator who voted "aye" was Senator John Fetterman.

Tenure

Bondi was sworn-in by Associate Justice Clarence Thomas on February 5, 2025 at the White House. That same day, she made orders for the Justice Department to help President Trump's mass deportation efforts, to help states secure and execute the death penalty and to stop funding sanctuary cities.

In July 2025, the Department of Justice and the FBI wrote a memo saying there was no evidence that a list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients existed. Earlier that year, Bondi had said that she had the list and that she was reviewing it. Some Trump supporters criticized the contradiction.

On April 1, 2026, The New York Times said that Trump was thinking about firing Bondi and replacing her with Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin. On April 2, Trump announced he had fired Bondi.

Personal life

Bondi married Garret Barnes in 1990; however the couple divorced after 22 months of marriage. In 1996, Bondi married Scott Fitzgerald. They divorced in 2002. She was engaged to Greg Henderson in 2012. Since 2017, she has been in a relationship with John Wakefield.

In May 2026, CNN reported that Bondi was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and that she was recovering from it after having surgery a few weeks ago.

References

  1. ↑ Bousquet, Steve (July 14, 2010). "GOP Candidate Bondi Has Roots as a Democrat". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
  2. ↑ "Pam Bondi Fast Facts". CNN. February 13, 2025. Retrieved August 9, 2025.
  3. 1 2 Pager, Tyler (April 2, 2026). "Trump Fires Pam Bondi as Attorney General". The New York Times. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Legally Bondi | Business Observer". Business Observer. November 5, 2010. Archived from the original on July 24, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Lawyer info-Pam Bondi" Archived July 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Florida Bar, Find a Lawyer
  6. ↑ "August 24, 2010 Primary Election, Republican Primary: Attorney General". Florida Department of State Division of Elections. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Prosecutor Pam Bondi holds narrow lead over legislator Dan Gelber in AG race". Orlando Sentinel. 2010-10-25. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  8. ↑ Kennedy, Kelli (2010-11-03). "Former Prosecutor Bondi Has Comfortable Win Over Gelber". The Ledger. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  9. ↑ "November 2, 2010 General Election". Doe.dos.state.fl.us. Archived from the original on November 15, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  10. ↑ Bolstad, Erika (March 28, 2012). "Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi front and center in fight against health care law". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  11. ↑ Leary, Alex. "Pre-existing conditions latest flashpoint in Nelson-Scott battle". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on June 19, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  12. ↑ Wilstein, Matt (June 15, 2016). "Anderson Cooper: Florida AG Pam Bondi Either 'Mistaken or Not Telling the Truth'". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on October 27, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2016.
  13. ↑ Peters, Jeremy W.; Alvarez, Lizette (June 15, 2016). "After Orlando, a Political Divide on Gay Rights Still Stands". New York Times. Archived from the original on June 20, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  14. ↑ Ducassi, Daniel; Caputo, Marc (June 14, 2016). "Bondi says she's not being hypocritical toward LGBT community". Politico. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  15. ↑ Contorno, Steve. "Is Pam Bondi auditioning for Fox News while still working for Florida taxpayers?". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on August 27, 2018. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  16. ↑ Staff (November 5, 2014). "2014 Florida election results: Rick Scott wins, medical marijuana falls short". Orlando Business Journal. Archived from the original on November 7, 2014. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
  17. ↑ Lavender, Paige (July 20, 2016). "Florida Attorney General To Anti-Clinton RNC Crowd: 'Lock Her Up'". HuffPost. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  18. ↑ Benen, Steve (November 7, 2019). "Despite earlier controversy, Pam Bondi joining Team Trump". MSNBC. Archived from the original on December 10, 2019. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  19. ↑ Ianelli, Jerry (November 6, 2019). "Ex-Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to Reportedly Join Trump White House". Miami New Times. Retrieved December 10, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  20. ↑ Friedman, Dan (November 6, 2019). "Donald Trump, Pam Bondi dives into the Swamp". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on December 13, 2019. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  21. ↑ Rogers, Katie (December 11, 2019). "Movie Nights, Camp David and Cable Messaging: A White House Impeachment Playbook". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 12, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  22. ↑ "Former Florida AG Pam Bondi named to Trump's impeachment defense team". News 4 JAX. News Service of Florida. January 17, 2020. Archived from the original on January 18, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Trump campaign unveils convention speakers, POTUS to speak every night". Fox News. August 23, 2020. Archived from the original on August 23, 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-23.
  24. ↑ Wilson, Kirby (25 August 2020). "Pam Bondi, at RNC: Joe Biden only in politics to enrich his family". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on November 14, 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  25. ↑ "Pam Bondi Hypes 'Fake Ballots,' 'Evidence of Cheating' in Pennsylvania Vote". Mediaite. 2020-11-05. Archived from the original on November 5, 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  26. 1 2 "Pam Bondi throws herself into Trump effort to stop counting votes". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on November 21, 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-07.
  27. ↑ Hsu, Tiffany; Koblin, John (2020-11-07). "Fox News Meets Trump's Fraud Claims With Skepticism". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-07.
  28. ↑ Solender, Andrew. "Pam Bondi, Hope Hicks Among Latest Trump Loyalists Given Prestigious Government Board Positions". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  29. ↑ Reilly, Ryan J. (November 13, 2024). "Trump announces Matt Gaetz as his pick for attorney general". NBCNews.com. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  30. 1 2 Tucker, Eric; Durkin Richer, Alanna (21 November 2024). "Gaetz withdraws as Trump's pick for attorney general, averting confirmation battle in the Senate". AP.
  31. ↑ "Trump announces Pam Bondi is his new attorney general pick". ABC News. November 21, 2024. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  32. 1 2 "Trump attorney general nominee Pam Bondi clears Senate panel". Reuters. January 29, 2025. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  33. ↑ "Pam Bondi's Extensive Lobbying For Wealthy Special Interests and Foreign Governments Poses Serious Conflicts Of Interest | United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary". www.judiciary.senate.gov. 2025-01-15. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  34. ↑ "Pam Bondi nomination advances in Senate". Axios. February 3, 2025. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  35. ↑ Mansfield, Aysha Bagchi and Erin. "Trump nominee Pam Bondi confirmed by Senate as US attorney general". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
  36. ↑ Burns, Brian (2025-02-04). "Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman Votes With GOP To Confirm Pam Bondi As U.S. Attorney General". www.tampafp.com. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
  37. ↑ "Pam Bondi expected to move quickly to assert control of Justice Department". CNN. February 5, 2025. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
  38. ↑ Gerstein, Josh; Orden, Erica (5 February 2025). "Pam Bondi issued a flurry of orders on Day 1 as Trump's attorney general". Politico. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
  39. ↑ Moye, David (July 7, 2025). "MAGA Members Have Mega Tizzy After DOJ And FBI Claim Epstein Files Don't Exist". HuffPost. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  40. ↑ Blake, Aaron (July 7, 2025). "Pam Bondi's botched handling of the Epstein files". CNN. Retrieved July 16, 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  41. ↑ Debusmann, Bernd Jr (July 9, 2025). "US justice department finds no Epstein 'client list'". BBC News. Retrieved July 16, 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  42. ↑ Montellaro, Zach (July 12, 2025). "'I don't like what's happening': Trump tries to quell MAGA blowup over Epstein". POLITICO. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
  43. ↑ Sexton, Karl (July 13, 2025). "Trump urges MAGA supporters to forget about Epstein files – DW – 07/13/2025". dw.com. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
  44. ↑ Pager, Tyler (April 1, 2026). "Trump Has Discussed Firing Attorney General Pam Bondi". The New York Times. Retrieved April 2, 2026.
  45. ↑ Mitchell, Tia (May 30, 2012). "Attorney General Pam Bondi's Cayman trip wasn't a wedding; many wonder why". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
  46. ↑ "Inside Pam Bondi's low key romance with John Wakefield after facing heartbreak twice". MSN. Retrieved February 3, 2025.
  47. ↑ Reid, Paula (May 27, 2026). "Former Attorney General Pam Bondi diagnosed with thyroid cancer and recovering from treatment". CNN. Retrieved May 27, 2026.

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