United States President Donald Trump announced on Thursday the dismissal of Attorney General Pam Bondi. CNN reports that she will be temporarily replaced by her deputy, Todd Blanche. Bondi’s appeal was confirmed by Trump on his Truth Social platform, writes TASR.
According to CNN’s sources, the head of the White House has been talking with his colleagues about the possibility of removing Bondi in recent days, and he also discussed it with her on Wednesday. In this “difficult” interview, Trump indicated that she did not have a long future as secretary and that he would replace her in the near future.
American media identified the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, as Bondi’s possible successor. Trump reportedly hinted to Bondi that she could be appointed as a judge after leaving the department.
According to sources, the president was angry with how Bondi handled the case of the files of poor financier Jeffrey Epstein, convicted of sexually abusing underage girls, or the fact that she insufficiently investigated Trump’s political opponents. However, the head of the White House called Bondi a “great American patriot and loyal friend” on the social network.
“Pam has done an outstanding job overseeing a massive crackdown on crime in our country, with homicides down to their lowest level since 1900.” wrote. The dismissed minister will hold a new “important” position, which will be announced in the near future.
At the same time, Trump confirmed that the ministry will be temporarily led by Bondi’s deputy – “a very talented and respected legal personality” – Todd Blanche. He was one of the personal lawyers who represented Trump in several criminal cases after his first term in office.
The AP agency notes that Bondi’s work at the ministry was accompanied by a period of several upheavals in the department. It was related, for example, to the dismissal of career prosecutors who were not loyal enough to Trump, or the resignation of hundreds of other employees.
Bondi has become the target of criticism from some Trump supporters for the way she went about publishing the files on Epstein. In addition, according to AFP, she has failed to prosecute Trump opponents such as former US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey and New York State Attorney General Letitia James. Trump fired Bondi a month after announcing the end of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
