Pam Bondi

Pamela Jo Bondi (born November 17, 1965) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician. A Republican, she served as the 37th Florida attorney general from 2011 to 2019.

Early life

Bondi’s hometown is Temple Terrace, Florida. Her father, Joseph Bondi, was a city council member and then Mayor of Temple Terrace. She is a graduate of C. Leon King High School in Tampa. Bondi graduated from the University of Florida in 1987 with a degree in Criminal Justice and was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority. She earned a JD from Stetson Law School in 1990 and was admitted to the Florida Bar on June 24, 1991.

Career

Bondi acted as a prosecutor and spokeswoman in Hillsborough County, Florida, where she was an Assistant State Attorney. Bondi resigned this position to seek the office of Attorney General of Florida. She has made guest appearances on Scarborough Country with Joe Scarborough and various other cable news programming on MSNBC and worked for Fox News as a guest host.

Bondi prosecuted former Major League Baseball player Dwight Gooden in 2006 for violating the terms of his probation and for substance abuse. In 2007, Bondi also prosecuted the defendants in Martin Anderson’s death.

Attorney General

In 2010, Bondi defeated Democratic State Senator Dan Gelber by a 55% to 41% margin to become the first female Attorney General of the State of Florida.

Bondi was the lead attorney general in an unsuccessful lawsuit seeking to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare”) in Florida et al v. United States Department of Health and Human Services. In the lawsuit the State of Florida and 26 other states argued that the individual mandate provision of the ACA violates the United States Constitution. 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 pre-existing conditions higher premiums or denying them coverage outright.

In 2013, Bondi persuaded Governor Rick Scott to postpone a scheduled execution because it conflicted with her reelection kickoff/fundraising event. After questions were raised in the media, Bondi apologized for moving the execution date.

Bondi was re-elected in November 2014, receiving 55% of the vote. Her challenger, state Representative George Sheldon received 42%.

Bondi opposed same-sex marriage and other LGBT rights issues on behalf of the state. Following the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting in June 2016, Bondi was interviewed by CNN reporter Anderson Cooper, who questioned her about her sudden change in attitude towards the LGBT community in Florida.

In August 2018, while still serving as Attorney General, Bondi co-hosted Fox News’ The Five three days in a row while also appearing on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show. Fox News claimed that the Florida Commission on Ethics had approved Bondi’s appearance on the program; however the commission’s spokeswoman denied that, telling the Tampa Bay Times that “no opinion was rendered” and that the commission’s general counsel “did not express a view as to whether would or would not violate the Code of Ethics”. The Tampa Bay Times described it as “unprecedented” for a sitting elected official to host a TV show.

Fundraising controversies

Beginning in 2010, Bondi’s association with Scientology and the multiple fundraisers that wealthy Scientologists have organized for Bondi’s political campaigns have provoked controversy. Bondi has justified those contacts and her speeches before leading Scientologists by arguing that the group wishes to help her crack down on human trafficking.

In 2011, Bondi also pressured two attorneys to resign who were investigating the technology giant Black Knight, then LPS, following the robosigning scandal, as part of their work for Florida’s Economic Crime Division, after she received large campaign contributions from LPS.

Bondi was also criticized for some contributions received from Donald Trump and his associates. By 2013, Bondi had received at least 22 fraud complaints about Trump University. A spokesperson for Bondi announced that her office was considering joining a lawsuit initiated by the New York Attorney General against Trump regarding tax fraud. Four days later, however, a political action committee tied to Bondi, And Justice for All, received a $25,000 donation from the Donald J. Trump Foundation, after which Bondi declined to join the lawsuit against Trump University. When controversy over this first arose later in 2013, both Bondi and Trump defended the propriety of the nonprofit foundation’s political donation.

In 2016, after Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service regarding the 2013 Trump donation, the Trump Foundation stated that the donation had been made in error. It said that the Foundation had intended for the donation to go not to Bondi’s PAC, but instead to an unrelated Kansas non-profit called Justice for All. However, in June 2016, as Bondi was facing renewed criticism over the Trump donation and her decision not to join the lawsuit, her spokesman said that Bondi had solicited the donation directly from Trump several weeks before her office announced it was considering joining the lawsuit against him. On March 14, 2016, Bondi endorsed Trump in the 2016 Florida Republican presidential primary, saying she has been friends with Trump for many years. In June 2016, a spokesperson for Governor Rick Scott stated that the state’s ethics commission is looking into the matter, though nothing further came from the investigation.

In September 2016, the IRS determined that the donation to Bondi’s PAC violated laws against political contributions from nonprofit organizations, and ordered Trump to pay a fine for the contribution. Trump also was required to reimburse the foundation for the sum that had been donated to Bondi. Neither Bondi nor her PAC were fined or criminally charged. In November 2019, Trump was ordered by a New York state court to close down the foundation and pay $2 million in damages for misusing it, including the illegal payment to Bondi.

Association with Donald Trump

Trump–Ukraine scandal
A request by U.S. President Donald Trump (right) to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) to investigate Joe Biden and his son sparked the scandal.
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In 2016, Bondi gave a speech at the Republican National Convention, during which she led “Lock Her Up” chants directed at the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. In 2019, after her final term as attorney general, Bondi was hired by Ballard Partners, a firm with close ties to Trump, and she began working as a registered lobbyist for Qatar. In November 2019, she was hired by the Trump administration to help the White House during Trump’s impeachment proceedings, being given “special Government employee” status, allowing Bondi to continue working for the Arab lobby. Her position was described the following month as being 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.

During the course of the impeachment trial, Bondi made debunked allegations that former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden were involved in corruption in Ukraine, stemming from Hunter Biden’s position on board of Burisma Holdings. It was also revealed that Lev Parnas, a businessman with close ties to Rudy Giuliani and Ukraine, had several meetings with Bondi in 2018 while she was the Florida Attorney General, and in 2019. In 2019, Parnas was arrested and accused of illegally funneling foreign money from Ukrainians and Russians to Republican politicians, particularly in Florida, where he lived.

Bondi spoke in support of Trump at the 2020 Republican National Convention.

While ballots were being counted in the 2020 United States presidential election, Bondi supported Trump’s baseless claims that there was large-scale voter fraud in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. In an appearance on Fox News on November 5, 2020, host Steve Doocy challenged Bondi to provide evidence for her claims of fraud, to which she refused. Bondi later claimed that Trump had won Pennsylvania, despite votes there still being counted, with his opponent Joe Biden ultimately winning the state.

During the lame-duck session, outgoing Trump appointed Bondi to the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees. The Palm Beach Post described it as a reward for her loyalty to Trump.

Personal life

Bondi married Garret Barnes in 1990; 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.

Electoral history