Pam Bondi, the US Attorney General, is fired by Trump.

 

Spats, theatrics and a walkout - How the Pam Bondi hearing unfolded (Image: Reuters)

Attorney General Pam Bondi, a staunch supporter of President Trump's administration and a longtime ally, has been fired from her position as the country's top law enforcement official. In a post on Truth Social, Trump praised her and said that she would be "transitioning" into a private sector position. Bondi's time leading the justice department was often overshadowed by its handling of the release of files relating to Jeffrey Epstein and its investigation into the convicted sex offender.

 She is the second official in the Trump administration to be fired in recent weeks, following Kristi Noem's dismissal as homeland security chief in March. Bondi will be replaced by her former deputy, Todd Blanche.

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 Blanche denied US media reports that Bondi's handling of the Epstein files had been a factor in Trump's thinking.

 He stated to Fox News on Thursday evening, "As President Trump said today, the attorney general made our country safe again, and she is a friend and did a great job in the first year of this administration." Bondi stated that the position had "been the honor" of a lifetime and that she would be "working tirelessly" to transfer her duties to Blanche. She added that in her new private sector position - which she did not identify - she would "continue fighting for President Trump and this administration".

The announcement comes less than two months after Bondi held a contentious hearing before the House of Representatives. During that hearing, she was confronted with a flurry of questions from lawmakers, some of which led to shouting matches during which she referred to one Democrat as a "washed-up loser." Trump was defending Bondi as recently as Thursday morning, stating, "She is a wonderful person and she is doing a good job." However, a few hours later, Trump made the announcement of her departure on Truth Social, stating that her new position in the private sector would be "announced at a date in the near future."

Trump lauded Bondi's performance as attorney general in his post, saying she had done "a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown in crime across our country".

 However, the president was said to have become increasingly enraged with Bondi, particularly over how she handled the Epstein files. According to two sources who spoke with CBS News, the BBC's US partner, this had resulted in the erosion of Trump's support over the course of several months and increased public displays of frustration with Bondi. When she was sworn into the post in February 2025, Bondi vowed transparency over the Epstein case and promised to release an alleged client list associated with the disgraced financier, who died in 2019.

The department later said no such list existed.

 Millions of Epstein-related files were eventually made public under pressure from supporters of Trump and only after Congress passed a law requiring the Department of Justice to release unclassified records. Legislators accused the Justice Department of failing to conceal some identifying information about survivors while safeguarding the identities of those who were not victims, prompting a bipartisan backlash against the agency and Bondi.

Pam Bondi will be replaced by her former deputy, Todd Blanche (Image: Getty Images)

On Thursday, a few Republicans who have worked closely with her over the years gave her praise. "Pam Bondi led this Department with strength and conviction and I'm grateful for her leadership and friendship," Blanche wrote on X.  "We will continue to support the blue, uphold the law, and do everything in our power to ensure the safety of America," Her departure was celebrated by others. Thomas Massie, a Republican congressman from Kentucky, was one of them. Massie frequently criticized Bondi's handling of the Epstein files.

"I hope the next AG will release all the Epstein files according to the law and follow up with investigations, prosecutions and arrests," he wrote on X.

 "This shows that Congress isn't a doormat," said California Democrat Ro Khanna, who collaborated with Massie on the bipartisan law to compel the release of the files. Khanna said lawmakers should refuse to confirm Blanche as the next attorney general unless he will "submit to investigating and prosecuting this Epstein class, this group of men who felt that they could write their own rules, play by their own roles, and treated the rest of us as dispensable".

Under her leadership, the justice department has pursued a number of criminal investigations into political opponents of the president, including California Senator Adam Schiff, New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey.

 

In September, Trump pushed Bondi to more aggressively investigate his political adversaries.  "We can't delay any longer, it's killing our reputation and credibility," he wrote in a direct tweet to Bondi. During her tenure, the justice department was questioned about how it handled the investigation into two fatal shootings by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during confrontations that sparked nationwide demonstrations in January. Bondi is the third well-known member of Trump's cabinet to leave this term, joining Noem and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who left last year to be replaced by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Bondi's departure was announced by Trump. The relatively intact inner circle of this Trump presidency stands in stark contrast to his first term in office between 2017-21, which was a revolving door of firings and replacements.

 In the first year alone, the administration saw the departure of acting Attorney General Sally Yates, 

National Security Adviser Mike Flynn, FBI Director James Comey, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, chief strategist Steve Bannon and two press secretaries, among others.

 Since returning to the White House last year, commentators and political strategists had remarked that Trump's approach in his second term had been more disciplined and less chaotic.

 Bondi was part of Trump's legal team during his first impeachment trial and when he claimed without evidence that the 2020 lection had been stolen from him through mass voter fraud.

What to know about Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche (Image: BBC)

Nancy Mace, a Republican representative from South Carolina, was another Bondi opponent who said that she had "stonewalled every effort to hold the guilty accountable" and "seriously undermined" Trump by handling the files. The BBC also heard from survivors that Epstein's wrongdoing had become a political liability for Trump and that Bondi had yet to meet them or respond to their emails. Bondi has apologized to Epstein's victims and referred to Epstein as a "monster." Bondi was most recently summoned by a congressional committee to answer questions about how she handled the Epstein investigation. She was expected to appear before them this month.

She also showed her public support for him by attending his New York hush money trial, which ended in May with a conviction for 34 counts of fraud. Trump is challenging the verdict in court.

Source: BBC