Dan Mitchinson: Donald Trump taps loyalist Pam Bondi for US Attorney-General after Matt Gaetz withdraws

US President-elect Donald Trump tapped Pam Bondi, a staunch ally who helped defend the ex-leader against impeachment, as US Attorney-General following firebrand Matt Gaetz’s withdrawal from the running.

Gaetz’s retreat amid sexual misconduct allegations signalled limits to Trump’s power, even as the President-elect prepares to retake the White House with his Republican Party also in control of both chambers of Congress.

The nomination of Bondi, a former Florida Attorney-General who served as a surrogate during the 2024 campaign and pushed to delegitimise vote counting in swing state Pennsylvania in 2020, could be seen as a useful tool for Trump in his attempt to settle personal grievances.

“For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponised against me and other Republicans – Not anymore,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social network in announcing Bondi’s nomination.

Bondi, 59, was a member of Trump’s legal team during his first Senate impeachment trial, in which he was alleged to have pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, using aid as leverage, to hand over political dirt on Biden.

“Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again,” Trump wrote, adding that she is “smart and tough, and is an AMERICA FIRST Fighter”.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Dan Mitchison US correspondence with US Hello.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Dan, Hello Heather.

Speaker 1 (00:04):
What do we know about Pam Bondy.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Well, we know that she was sure nominated very quickly
after Matt Gaez said that he was withdrawing. Ope, I mean,
I thought this was going to take a little time,
and then about two hours later, boom, Trump announced her
as his new choice. And she had served as Florida's
attorney general. Big Trumper Trump says, she's really big against
trafficking and the drug issue down there, and she had

(00:29):
worked on the commission focusing on any opioid crisis. And
you know, she was also involved in the efforts to
overturn the results back in twenty twenty and she said,
you know that the whole election thing was rigged and
he won Pennsylvania. So definitely somebody that I think Donald
Trump will get along with. And interesting that after this
stuff with Gates came out a couple of days ago,

(00:51):
you know, you started seeing the smoke and then boom,
all of a sudden, today it was all about the fire. Now.

Speaker 3 (00:56):
The fact that it was announced that she was announced
so soon after at gates withdrawals suggests that Matt Gates
was was either pushed out or had come to that
conclusion with Trump.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, I think I think so. I think they saw
the handwriting on the wall. And you know, Trump issued
a statement on his social media site shortly after, saying,
you know, he's he's a great guy. He looks forward
to seeing what Gates is going to do in the future.
But you know, he was putting the party over his
personal opportunity. And yeah, I just think that with all
these accusations that we're coming out and I'm sure we're

(01:28):
going to have more in the future too, they thought
this is gonna this is going to take away too much,
and we just got to get somebody new on there.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Is she gonna?

Speaker 3 (01:34):
I mean, being quite a few of his appointments have
been pretty controversial and have raised some eyebrows.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
How about her?

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Yeah, I think she is. I think we're going to
see a lot more too. I mean, every every time
you get a new president, and there's usually one or
two people that that sort of raise a few eyebrows
or sometimes have to step aside because of their their past.
With Donald Trump, sometimes we see a few more of
those people, and we'll likely see a few more between
now and next January.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
Now, Ellen degenerous, she's left the country already.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
I well, you know, it's interesting because she lives in Monacito,
which is this flashy part everybody in Hollywood seems to
own a place. It's about ninety miles north of Los Angeles.
And she had said that, you know, if Donald Trump
wins the election, I'm out of here. Apparently she's made
the move already to the Cotswolds, which is in south
central England. She's her listing her place in Montcito that

(02:24):
she bought back in twenty nineteen. And you've got a
slew of other celebrities. I think Sharon Stone was another
one cher who have said, hey, we want to leave
this country following the election. But I'll tell you what, Heather,
nobody does really, or very few people do. I mean,
it's all talk and nobody holds them accountable. When you're like,
well hold it, wait a minute, you're still here three
years later. Yeah?

Speaker 3 (02:43):
No, Ellen, though, I've got questions about this because you know,
I mean, when was your election. Wasn't it only two
weeks ago?

Speaker 1 (02:48):
Wasn't it three?

Speaker 2 (02:49):
Yeah? Yeah it was, it was it was just a
couple of weeks ago.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yeah. Cama and she.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
Didn't buy the house and the Cotswolds in the last
three weeks, did she No?

Speaker 2 (02:56):
No, I think she's one of I think she's been
thinking about this ever since her her career got sidetracked
and she did this Netflix special and saying, hey, nobody
wants to hire me anymore. I think this is just
her way of getting out of the country and getting
out of the limelight. But it sounds good because she's
very much to the left and as we know, mister
Trump's very much to the right.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
Yep, it's a good yarn, but it's probably not accurate. Hey,
so you guys aren't loving being at work, are you?

Speaker 1 (03:20):
Well?

Speaker 2 (03:20):
Hold it now now when you say you guys, there
is this poll right now, Yeah, and it finds that
a third of employees, only a third are engaged. Now
when you look at it, when you take the global
view right here, there's only about twenty seven twenty eight
percent of people who say that they're happy with where
they are, only nineteen percent. So they're satisfied in the

(03:41):
place they work. So look around your studio right now.
Count yourself, Count your producer, count your text director. One
out of three of you is not engaged and with this,
I wasn't going to say as.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
It could be the German, it could be the German.

Speaker 2 (03:55):
Oh no, no, no, no, can't possibly be her.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
Germans never do anything pie, They're always excellent. She's playing
her phone, he says, no, it's her.

Speaker 3 (04:03):
Yeah, okay, so we've found out we've found out one
third who's yours.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
Well, I don't know a lot of people would point
the finger at me, I suppose, but so I guess.
But you know, it's funny because we get these polls
all the time, and I guess more and more too,
especially since the pandemic. They're saying that people aren't happy
because they're not getting the recognition for the work that
they do, and others say that they have a supervisor,

(04:28):
a coworker who don't care about them at work. So
I think what this poll is finding is that workers
who are engaged for a number of reasons find that, hey,
we're going to do that if if if it's if
we're getting the recognition that we want right now, if
it's a well being to us as well as to
the company.

Speaker 1 (04:45):
Yeah, I suppose it's probably sure. Hey, Dan, thank you,
I appreciated. Good luck with getting your engagement up. That's
Dan Mitchinson, US correspondent. For more from Hither Duplessy Allen
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