WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Donald Trump's pick to lead the Justice Department, , is set to face questions on Capitol Hill on Wednesday over her loyalty to the Republican president-elect, who has vowed to use the agency to .
The former Florida attorney general and corporate lobbyist would be one of the most closely scrutinized members of Trump's Cabinet if she's confirmed to lead the department that prosecuted the once and future president in two separate criminal cases that never went to trial.
Here's what to know about Bondi ahead of her confirmation hearing:
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She's a close Trump ally and long-time defender
Bondi has been a fixture in Trump's orbit for years, and a regular defender of the president-elect on news programs amid his legal woes. She's likely to face many questions over her public statements criticizing the criminal cases against Trump, given his threats to seek retribution against those he believes have wronged him.
鈥淭he Department of Justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted 鈥� the bad ones,鈥� Bondi said in a 2023 Fox News appearance. 鈥淭he investigators will be investigated.鈥�
Bondi said members of the so-called deep state were 鈥渉iding in the shadows鈥� during Trump's first term, "but now they have a spotlight on them, and they can all be investigated.鈥�
Bondi traveled to New York last May to support Trump in court while he stood trial in his hush money criminal case. Trump was sentenced last week to in that case after his jury conviction on 34 felony counts.
After Trump鈥檚 guilty verdict in that case, Bondi said during 鈥� alongside Trump鈥檚 pick for 鈥� that 鈥渁 tremendous amount of trust is lost in the justice system tonight.鈥� She added: 鈥淭he American people see through it.鈥�
On a radio show last August, she compared special counsel to 鈥渁 rabid dog鈥� after he brought a new 2020 election interference indictment against Trump in the . Smith 鈥� and the 鈥� after Trump's November victory, citing Justice Department .
Florida's first female attorney general
Bondi was first elected Florida attorney general in 2010, defeating Democratic state Sen. Dan Gelber after earning the endorsement of former Republican Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate .
As Florida attorney general, Bondi led a challenge brought by more than two dozen states to President health care overhaul. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately upheld the health care law. Bondi also fought to uphold Florida's ban on same-sex marriage 鈥� arguing that marriage should be defined by each state.
One of her top priorities as attorney general was going after so-called pill mills, or clinics that hand out large amounts of prescription painkillers and helped fuel the country's opioid crisis.
Bondi after she personally from Trump as her office was weighing whether to join New York in suing over fraud allegations involving .
Trump to a political committee supporting Bondi from his family鈥檚 charitable foundation, in violation of legal prohibitions against charities supporting partisan political activities. After the check came in, Bondi鈥檚 office nixed suing Trump鈥檚 company for fraud, citing insufficient grounds to proceed.
Both Trump and Bondi denied wrongdoing, the tossed the complaints and a prosecutor assigned by then-GOP Gov. determined there was over the donation.
Before becoming Florida attorney general, Bondi spent 18 years in the Hillsborough County State Attorney鈥檚 Office, prosecuting cases 鈥渞anging from domestic violence to capital murder,鈥� according to her bio at Ballard Partners, the lobbying firm she joined in 2019. Among the cases she handled was the 2006 prosecution of baseball star , who was sent to prison for violating his probation by using cocaine.
She spent years lobbying on behalf of companies such as Amazon
Democrats are likely to press Bondi on her years as a lobbyist and the potential conflicts of interest posed by her work for corporations and other entities that could face scrutiny by the Justice Department.
Records show that between 2019 and 2024, Bondi was registered to represent 30 clients, including businesses such as Uber and Amazon during her time at Ballard Partners, a lobbying firm headed by Brian Ballard, who has ties to Trump, according to advocacy group .
She led Ballard Partners' corporate regulatory compliance practice, which focuses on helping Fortune 500 companies 鈥渋mplement best practices that proactively address public policy challenges such as human trafficking, opioid abuse and personal data privacy,鈥� according to her Ballard Partners bio.
She registered as a foreign agent for the government of for work related to anti-human-trafficking efforts leading up to the , held in 2022. She also represented the KGL Investment Company KSCC, a Kuwaiti firm also known as KGLI. The firm paid Ballard $300,000 in 2019 to lobby the White House, National Security Council, State Department and Congress on immigration policy, human rights and economic sanctions issues.
Beyond her lobbying work, she also served as chair of the Center for Litigation and co-chair for the Center for Law and Justice at the America First Policy Institute, a think tank set up by former Trump administration staffers to lay the groundwork for his potential second term. Her work in that role in support of a public high school football coach who was fired for praying on the field after games.
She was part of Trump's first impeachment trial defense team
Bondi stepped away from lobbying in 2020 to defend Trump during his first impeachment trial against allegations that Trump abused the power of his office when he pressured Ukraine's president during a phone call to investigate then-presidential candidate and his son, Hunter Biden, ahead of the 2020 election.
Trump, who denied any wrongdoing, was impeached in the U.S. House of Representatives and .
Bondi was brought on to bolster the White House鈥檚 messaging and communications. Trump and his allies sought from the start, aiming to brush off the whole thing as a farce.
Bondi backed Trump's effort to challenge the 2020 election results
Bondi supported Trump's efforts to challenge his 2020 loss to Biden, traveling in the days after the election to Pennsylvania, where she claimed the campaign had evidence of 鈥渃heating.鈥�
Bondi appeared at a press conference in Philadelphia the day after the 2020 election alongside then-Trump attorney . The former New York City mayor has since lost his law license in New York and Washington, D.C., after pursuing false claims that Trump made about .
At the press conference, Giuliani suggested that bogus ballots could be flooding in from 鈥淢ars鈥� or nearby Camden, New Jersey 鈥� or, he said: 鈥淛oe Biden could have voted 50 times, as far as we know, or 5,000 times." Bondi said poll workers in Philadelphia were keeping Republican poll watchers too far back and preventing them from doing their jobs.
鈥淲e鈥檝e won Pennsylvania and we want every vote to be counted in a fair way,鈥� Bondi said.
The next day , Bondi declared there was 鈥渆vidence of cheating."
鈥淲e are not going anywhere until they declare that we won Pennsylvania,鈥� Bondi said, alleging there were 鈥渇ake ballots coming in late." But when the anchor pressed her again on those 鈥渇ake ballots,鈥� she responded: 鈥淭here could be 鈥� that's the problem...We don't know.鈥�
Bondi went on to claim that ballots were 鈥渄umped,鈥� and that 鈥減eople were receiving ballots that were dead.鈥�
There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud that changed the outcome of the 2020 election.
Alanna Durkin Richer, The Associated Press
