4/3 - Spotlight: AG Pam Bondi OUT
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Transcript
20 segmentsThis is the WOKV spotlight on 104.5 WOKV. Pam Bondi has had something to say about her ouster as Attorney General. In a statement, Pam Bondi said she will be, quote, moving to an important private sector role, and she is thrilled about where I will continue fighting for President Trump and this administration. Rizu Zhang reports Bonnie was fired yesterday. Todd Blanche, who had been number two at the Justice Department, is now acting attorney general. We're joined live by WOKV political analyst Rick Mullaney from the Haskell. Public Policy Institute at Jacksonville University. Did you see the firing coming, Rick? Good morning, Rich. And in some ways, this is surprising because of how loyal she has been. In other ways, it's really not surprising. And maybe the first warning came back in December when the chief of staff, Susie Wiles, was talking about the Epstein file and said that Pam Bondi had completely whiffed on those documents. That suggested there was a bit of a problem. And in recent weeks, you could see that the president was a little bit frustrated. The Attorney General position in particular, in that cabinet position under Donald Trump, is very, very difficult because he wants both loyalty, which Pam Bondi certainly provided. But he also wants them to deliver on his priorities. which as an attorney general, sometimes they just simply cannot do that, or it's problematic because of the legal requirements. And you've seen that in the past with attorney generals, Bill Barr, for example, who fell out of disfavor because he did not, he was at odds with the president over the 2020 election. And you also saw it with Jeff Sessions when he conflicted himself out of the Russia investigation and ended up getting fired by Donald Trump. So in answer to your question, it is surprising in one sense because I don't think anybody has been more loyal to the president than Pantbondi. She certainly is very loyal. And, in fact, Democrats feel that she's been too partisan. But on the other hand, you could see that with the Epstein files and the handling of the Epstein files and her, what the president uses ineffectiveness in going after James Comey, Coney, Letitia James, and others, that this was going to be coming. And that's what the president wanted to do. This position is supposed to be independent, but has seemingly been anything but what do you see going forward with the next Attorney General nominee and the potential of independence? Well, first and foremost, it's going to have to be a trusted person. And that's not new to Donald Trump. Remember, John F. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.. selected Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his brother as attorney general. And over the past decades, it has always been someone who's been in a position of trust, whether that was Eric Holder with President Obama, whether it's been Merrick Garland with Joe Biden, and now, of course, this next election, it'll be somebody that he trusts. That would be true if it was Todd Blanche, for example. It would be true if it was Lee Zeldin. It would be true on the short list. That's going to be that first criteria. The second criteria he'll be looking for is someone who can deliver.
But the Attorney General is in a very difficult spot because of the rule of law, and it needs to be someone who can look at the president and say, under the law, that's simply a bridge too far. That could be an election result. That could be what some are calling retribution and going after certain political opponents. So look for somebody very trusted and look for someone who he hopes will be an effective advocate for what he wants and accomplishing what he wants. Pam Bondi was supposed to testify before lawmakers in a couple of weeks over the Epstein files. Will she? Legally, can they bring her in as a private citizen then? Well, it's a little unclear right now. And in fact, for members of Congress, you're hearing some mixed messages on that. Some are saying this is now moot. Others are saying absolutely not. We're going to hear from her. We're going to have to watch how that plays out. And so in the end, I think there's going to be a push to have her testify. Obviously, she played a key role in a number of different cases and was very public in her support of President Trump. We think of the testimony before, lawmakers before. How do you think she will ultimately be remembered as National Attorney General, U.S. Attorney General? Of course, she was State Attorney General for a number of years. When you say she was, in fact, understandably viewed as very, very partisan, and there's a strong history that supports that rich. Remember, a decade ago in 2016, and Marco Rubio was running for president. It was a very crowded field. Pam Bondi was an early supporter of Donald Trump. She also was at the Republican National Convention supporting Donald Trump as a speaker in 2020 and in 2016. When he was impeached both times, and those two impeachments. She was one of the lawyers in both of those on the defense team for his impeachment. She was also one of the lawyers who worked with Donald Trump in trying to over in contesting what happened in the 2020 election. So she came to the attorney general position as a very trusted person who was a strong supporter of the president. And quite frankly, she maintained that status as attorney general and was very much criticized for that. She oversaw, for example, the purging of some members from the Department of Justice, lawyers, and others who had been part of investigations into the president. The president was very clear with her that he wanted investigations into Adam Schiff, James Comey, Letitia James, Jerome Powell, Frank Brennan, and others. And so for Pam Bondi, she pursued those things, but in the president's eyes not as effectively as she wanted. Part of her legacy will be her strong partisanship and support for the president. And I think this next go-around, people are going to have an eye on that kind of relationship for the next Attorney General. When the president says she's moving to an important role in the private sector, what do you read into that politically? It's so interesting to see what that is. I think all of us are wondering what that's going to look like. Potentially something related to Donald Trump himself, of one of his organizations, potentially, because the president had said it's an important position in the private sector. I'm not sure what he's referring to. It appears that she's pleased whatever it's going to be. There's a lot of reporting that suggests that she did want to wait until this summer, but the president wanted to do this now. But from all appearances...
he's going to provide a soft landing for Pambon. Do you see other cabinet officials who might be on the way out over the coming weeks or months? You know, it's been very interesting, Rich, and the first term of President Trump, the first year was filled with turnover. In the second administration for President Trump, that has not been the case until now. And we saw Kristi Noem go just a few weeks ago, now Pambandi. There's a lot of conversation now that others may be going to. It's timely with the midterms coming up. So there very much is the potential that you're going to see a bit of a shakeup, especially with the president's poll numbers dropping. He may want to bring about some change. That's likely to happen. All right, obviously a lot to come and we'll stay on top of all of it. We value the insight. WOKV political and legal analyst, Rick Mullaney with the Haskell Public Policy Institute at Jacksonville University. What's going on, everyone? It's Bluff here, and we're driving through the States in the BluffMobile, and the best thing that we can do is play our favorite casino-style games on SpinQuest. They have over 1,000 games, including Live Dealer, Blackjack, and craps, with tons of slots and unlimited. You can get a $30 coin pack for just $10 for new users. Sign up today. Go to SpinQuest.com right now. SpinQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Avoid where prohibited. Visit spendquest.com for more details.