Editor-DN
Washington:
US President-elect Donald Trump tapped Pam Bondi, a staunch ally who helped defend the former leader against impeachment, after Matt Gaetz withdrew from the race for US attorney general on Thursday. .
Gaetz’s departure amid sexual misconduct allegations signaled the limits of Trump’s power, even as the president-elect prepares to retake the White House with his Republican Party in control of both houses of Congress.
The nomination of Bondi, a former Florida attorney general who served as a surrogate during the 2024 campaign and pushed to outlaw vote counting in the swing state of Pennsylvania in 2020, is an attempt to address personal grievances. Can be seen as a useful tool for Trump. .
“For too long, the partisan Justice Department has been weaponized against me and other Republicans — not anymore,” Trump said in announcing Bondi’s nomination. Hoy wrote on his Truth social network.
Bondi, 59, was a member of Trump’s legal team during his first Senate impeachment trial, in which he was accused of pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and accusing Biden of political dirt. Aid was used as leverage to surrender.
“Pam will refocus the DOJ on its intended mission of fighting crime and making America safe again,” Trump wrote, adding that she is “smart and tough, and America’s first fighter.”
Trump has made several eye-catching picks for top roles, including Fox News host Pat Hegseth as defense secretary, vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary and billionaire Elon Musk as the government’s cost-cutting unit. included for leadership.
The exit of Gaetz, 42, was the first setback for Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance to keep key allies in top positions, but a lack of support from fellow Republicans saw his Senate confirmation largely doomed. went
Investigating ethics
A congressional panel is investigating Gaetz’s alleged illegal activity, including sex with a 17-year-old girl — which he denies — as well as drug use and misuse of campaign funds. .
“I had a wonderful meeting with the senators yesterday,” Gaetz said on X.
“While momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly distracting from the important work of the Trump/Vance transition.”
Gaetz was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2016 and recently won re-election, but resigned as a congressman shortly after Trump picked him to be attorney general.
“Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to seeing all the great things he will do,” Trump said in response to his resignation.
The ethics investigation of Gatz, a deeply polarizing congressman from Florida, has effectively ended after he resigned from the House.
Gaetz is known as a political disruptor who has earned the enmity of some House colleagues, including ousting fellow Republican Kevin McCarthy as speaker last year.
The latest flurry of change ahead of Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 came as tantalizing new details emerged about Hegseth, the defense secretary nominee.
He was investigated after an unidentified woman complained he was sexually assaulted at a 2017 conference in California.
The New York Times reported details from the police investigation, which was closed without Higseth being charged.
The married woman told officers her memory of the incident was hazy and she thought she might have had too much to drink, while Hegseth said the encounter was consensual.
(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
