Trump likely to fire Pam Bondi over her handling of the Justice Department: Report
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump is reportedly contemplating the possibility of freeing Attorney General Pam Bondi from her duties amid growing dissatisfaction with her handling of the Justice Department.
Trump has also floated a name that could be her possible replacement. If Bondi is ultimately fired, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin would take her position in the Justice Department, people familiar with the conversations the president had on the topic told the New York Times.
Pam Bondi’s MAGA standing weakens amid Trump frustration
Pam Bondi’s place in the MAGA movement has, in recent months, reportedly suffered several setbacks, as the president has complained about her ineffectiveness in pursuing his political enemies.
In October last year, writing a long post on Truth Social, Trump publicly pressured Bondi to bring criminal charges against his political enemies, saying, “We can’t delay any longer.”
In the same post, Trump urged Bondi to charge people like Adam Schiff (D-CA) and former FBI Director James Comey, saying, “They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.”
The handling of the Epstein files apparently worked as the final nail in the coffin for her weakening standing in Trump’s view.
From her claim that the Epstein files were “sitting on her desk” to distributing binders of the documents to MAGA influencers, Bondi’s actions during the scandal caused problems. Her decision to share documents with influencers also caught the White House completely off guard.
Susie Wiles calls out Pam Bondi over Epstein files claim
In an interview with Vanity Fair last year, Trump’s Chief of Staff Susie Wiles criticized Bondi for both incidents.
Wiles mocked those binders as “full of nothingness,” as they contained no real or useful information.
Wiles further said, " files sure as hell weren’t on her desk,” suggesting that Bondi’s claim of having the files was false.
Calls grow for Pam Bondi resignation over Epstein files
The demand for Bondi’s resignation grew with the release of Epstein files by the Justice Department. The release of heavily redacted confidential files prompted the Republican-led House Oversight Committee to vote to subpoena Bondi over their release.
Another hit to Bondi’s position came from criticism by Republicans after her marathon House Judiciary Committee hearing, where she claimed that Democrats were focusing on Epstein to avoid talking about how “the Dow right now is over 50,000.”
Although there is speculation that Trump wants to remove Bondi, he appeared at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, April 1, with her by his side and has continued to praise her in public.
