In the ongoing tale of a mountain falling into a molehill comes news of the firing of Attorney General Bondi:
President Donald Trump has ousted Pam Bondi as attorney general.
The president announced Bondi’s exit in a post Thursday on Truth Social, saying she would “be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future.” [Politico]
It seems she was deemed unworthy of a sinecure, which have been opened up for former Kansas Gov Sam Brownback (R-KS), former DHS Secretary Noem, and others. Did the former AG not sacrifice enough of her character for the President’s amusement? Or was it her failures to put certain people in jail that sent her to the Outer Hebrides of the President’s appreciative nature?
Bondi obeyed [Trump], engineering leadership changes that resulted in the rapid-fire indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Yet both cases were quickly thrown out after a judge ruled Bondi’s handpicked prosecutor was illegally appointed.
If you’re gonna fail, at least jump out of your biplane with your parachute and hair on fire. Failing due to procedural errors looks like a fat case of incompetence, meaning lost opportunities and your enemies laughing at you.
The future?
Signals of Trump’s frustration and Bondi’s pending demise surfaced this week after reports that Trump met with EPA boss Lee Zeldin and discussed tapping him for the AG role.
The White House and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer, will lead the department in an acting capacity, the president said. Blanche has been unusually visible in his role as Bondi’s deputy, embodying a Trumpian pugilism that has endeared him to the president — and raising eyebrows when he suggested the administration was at “war” with the courts.
Which is to say, finding someone with competency, credibility, and credentials is going to be a tough row to hoe. I’m expecting it’ll be someone short on prestige and long on, well, longing. Longing for respect, longing for vengeance on their enemies. And maybe for wealth.
Who’ll be the next to be ejected from the burning plane known as the Trump Administration? It’s hard to say, given the range of folks who should be embarrassed by their behavior, but I think I shall select Treasury Secretary Bessent.
