By Enyichukwu Enemanna
US President Donald Trump has relieved the Attorney General, Pam Bondi of her duty, replacing her with his former personal lawyer to serve as the acting chief of the Justice Department.
Bondi’s sack on Thursday, which Trump announced on the social media comes amid criticism of her handling of the Epstein files and her failure to successfully prosecute several perceived Trump’s foes.
“Pam Bondi is a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my Attorney General over the past year,” Trump said. “Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown in Crime across our Country.”
Bondi “will be transitioning to a much-needed and important new job in the private sector,” the President said, and will be replaced on an interim basis by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Bondi has drawn fire from some Trump supporters for her handling of the release of the Justice Department files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in a New York detention facility in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
The Epstein affair has been a major political liability for Trump, who was a longtime friend of the disgraced financier.
Bondi has also fell short of expectation to successfully prosecute perceived Trump opponents such as former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
According to The New York Times, Trump may name Lee Zeldin, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, to be the next substantive attorney general.
In the meantime, the post will be filled by Blanche, who was one of the personal lawyers who defended Trump in the multiple criminal cases he faced after he left the presidency in 2021.
Bondi’s removal comes nearly a month after Trump fired Kristi Noem as the head of the Department of Homeland Security.
Bondi, a former Florida attorney general, defended Trump against impeachment during his first term and helped push his false claims of 2020 election fraud as he sought to cling on to the White House after defeat by Joe Biden.
