Updated ,first published
Washington: US President Donald Trump sacked his attorney-general, Pam Bondi, after a tumultuous year in which she oversaw the release of the so-called Epstein Files and ill-fated attempts to prosecute her boss’s political enemies.
Bondi was reportedly informed of the termination on Wednesday (Washington time) and flew back to Florida.
“Pam Bondi is a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my Attorney General over the past year,” Trump posted on social media.
“Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown in Crime across our Country, with Murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900.
“We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much-needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future.”
Deputy attorney-general Todd Blanche – who was previously one of Trump’s personal lawyers – will serve as acting attorney-general, the president announced.
“We will continue backing the blue, enforcing the law, and doing everything in our power to keep America safe,” Blanche said, while also thanking Bondi for her “strength and conviction”.
Some US news outlets have reported Lee Zeldin, currently the administrator of the Environmental Protection Authority, is a favourite to replace Bondi on a permanent basis.
Bondi was one of the most qualified members of Trump’s cabinet, having served eight years as Florida attorney-general in the 2010s.
Although Trump had publicly praised Bondi as recently as this week, there has been a question mark over her position since last year, with the president publicly and privately displeased about how she was handling sensitive issues.
In September, Trump posted a message on his Truth Social account addressed to “Pam”, in which he expressed frustration at delays in bringing criminal charges against his political enemies such as former FBI director James Comey and New York attorney-general Letitia James.
“We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,” Trump wrote at the time. “They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”
Some news outlets later reported that Trump’s post was meant to be a private, direct message. He followed up with a post praising Bondi.
Weeks later, Bondi’s Department of Justice secured a grand jury indictment against Comey, charging him with making false statements to Congress. James was also charged.
But the prosecution case collapsed after a judge found Trump’s hand-picked prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, was illegally appointed to the role. Halligan had “no legal authority” to bring the charges against Comey and James, the judge ruled, and dismissed the cases.
Bondi was also responsible for the Justice Department’s management of the Epstein Files. She angered some in the MAGA community by declaring last July that all relevant documents had been released, after promising to publish files such as Epstein’s supposed “client list”.
After Congress passed a law requiring the full suite of Epstein documents to be made public, Bondi’s department released millions more pages.
Those emails and photographs exposed the full extent of relationships between convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and many high-profile individuals – several of whom lost their jobs or were forced into public apologies.
The House Oversight Committee, on which Republicans hold a majority, last month voted to subpoena Bondi to testify about her handling of the saga.
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Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X or email.
