The United States (U.S.) President-elect Donald Trump said on Thursday he would nominate former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to be U.S. Attorney General, moving swiftly to replace his former nominee Matt Gaetz after the embattled former congressman withdrew from consideration.
Reuters reports that Gaetz was the subject of a House Ethics Committee probe into allegations of having sex with an underage 17-year-old girl and illicit drug use. He has denied wrongdoing.
Bondi, 59, was the top law enforcement officer of the country’s third most populous state from 2011 to 2019, and served on Trump’s Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission during his first administration.
She was also part of Trump’s defence team during his first impeachment trial, in which he was accused of pressuring Ukraine to conduct a corruption investigation into his rival, now-President Joe Biden, by withholding military aid. Trump was later acquitted by the Senate.
“She is certainly qualified for the position on paper,” said David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor in Florida who now works as a defence attorney with Jones Walker.
“She spent her life prosecuting cases. She has a resume, as compared to the last nominee.”
Trump announced his pick of Bondi on social media, praising her for her prosecutorial experience and saying she was tough on crime as Florida’s first female attorney general.
Trump, who was elected on November 5 despite being the subject of multiple criminal investigations from U.S. and state prosecutors, said Bondi would end the politicisation of federal prosecutions.
“For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans – Not anymore,” Trump said.
