WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi after several investigations of his perceived enemies were thwarted and her handling of files related to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein came under criticism.
"Pam Bondi is a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my Attorney General over the past year," Trump said in a social media post. He said she would be moving to "a much needed and important new job in the private sector."
Bondi’s ouster represented Trump’s second removal of a Cabinet official in his second term. He fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in March and replaced her with Markwayne Mullin, a former senator from Oklahoma.
Bondi will be succeeded temporarily by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Lawmakers of both parties accused Bondi of botching the release of the Epstein files, which Congress directed in December. The legislation came after Bondi refused last July to release the files, despite Trump and his supporters campaigning for the release of all federal records in the case.
