Trump fires Pam Bondi after tumultuous 14-month term as attorney general

WASHINGTON— President Trump fired Pam Bondi as attorney general on Thursday, ending a tumultuous 14-month tenure marked by mass firings of career prosecutors, bungled handling of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation and a series of investigations into the president’s political enemies, including prominent California Democrats.

Trump announces he fired former Florida attorney general Real Social postpraising him as the “Great American Patriot.” It caps months of controversy surrounding Bondi’s leadership, which critics have described as an unprecedented attack on the independence of the country’s top law enforcement agency.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal criminal defense attorney, will serve as acting attorney general until a permanent replacement is named. Like Bondi, Blanche was a staunch supporter of Trump while at the Justice Department.

Blanche denounced past criminal cases against Trump as unfounded and politically motivated, even as she advocated for new criminal cases against Trump’s own political opponents. He also echoed Trump’s harsh criticism of the federal judiciary, declaring that the Justice Department was “at war” with a staff of “rogue activist judges.”

Bondi’s dismissal sparked harsh reactions from California Democrats, including Reps. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) and Ro Khanna (D-Fremont); Two lawmakers put intense legislative pressure on Bondi to release the Epstein files and accused her of overseeing a “cover-up” operation.

In separate statements, Garcia and Khanna said Bondi remains legally required to appear before the House Oversight Committee and testify under oath about what they called the “bungled” handling of the Epstein investigation.

“Even though he was fired, he still needs to answer to Congress about the remaining documents, why we don’t have a new trial, and why he participated in a cover-up,” Khanna said.

News outlets pointed to many reasons for Trump’s decision to fire Bondi.

Some reported that this had to do with Trump’s anger over Bondi’s handling of the Epstein files. After Congress passed a law mandating their release, Bondi presided over this release; Amid criticism, he was treading slowly, hiding some recordings and over-correcting others.

Garcia, the committee’s top Democrat, wrote to

But this was the case.

“With Pam Bondi no longer attorney general, Chair Comer will speak with Republican members and the Department of Justice about the status of the subpoena and discuss next steps,” a committee spokesman said Thursday, referring to Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.).

The announcement led some to question whether Bondi’s dismissal was in part an effort by the White House to keep her from testifying.

Others reported that Trump was angry at Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) for telling him that the Justice Department was considering releasing documents from a years-long investigation into his relationship with a suspected Chinese intelligence officer named Christine Fang, or Fang Fang.

Swalwell, a leading candidate for governor in California, was not a target of that investigation and cut ties with Fang in 2015 after U.S. intelligence officials briefed him and other members of Congress on Chinese efforts to infiltrate Congress. Swalwell has denied any wrongdoing in this matter, and it is unusual for records from this investigation to be released at this time.

Still other outlets reported that a major factor in Trump’s decision to fire Bondi was Trump’s failure to secure criminal indictments and convictions against various Trump political enemies, whom he accused with little evidence and publicly pushed to prosecute Bondi and other Justice Department officials.

One of those targets is Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), whom Trump accused of committing mortgage fraud by listing multiple homes as his primary residence in old mortgage documents.

Schiff has denied any wrongdoing and accused Trump of targeting him for political reasons. Justice Department officials have also declined to date to file any criminal charges against Schiff.

It’s unclear whether this will change under new leadership. Blanche was reportedly busy overseeing the Schiff investigation and clashed with former Justice official Ed Martin, who enthusiastically investigated Schiff before his dismissal.

In an

“Pam Bondi oversaw an unprecedented weaponization of the Justice Department that brought our nation’s rule of law to its knees,” Schiff wrote. “Numerous and unfounded political investigations, the purges of hundreds of law enforcement professionals, a massive cover-up of the Epstein files, and a wholesale effort to turn the department into a criminal law firm representing the president rather than the American people.”

Senator Alex Padilla, a Los Angeles Democrat, said “good riddance” to Bondi in a post on X.

“Bondi avoided transparency in the Epstein files, tried to go after voter rolls to undermine the election, and weaponized the Justice Department against Trump’s enemies,” Padilla said. “Americans deserve accountability, not cover-ups and corruption.”

It was unclear Thursday how long Trump could leave Blanche in the top job. As deputy attorney general, he had a hand in most decisions regarding the day-to-day operations of the department under Bondi, including its handling of the Epstein files.

Blanche personally interviewed Epstein’s incarcerated ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, at a federal prison in Florida, where she was sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping him sexually abuse young girls. During that interview, Maxwell said she never saw Trump in an “inappropriate environment.”

Blanche’s decision to interview Maxwell personally was highly unusual, considering how high-ranking she was in the Department of Justice.

He was moved to a minimum-security camp in Texas a few days after the meeting, which was perceived in part as a mercy ploy by Maxwell.