| rxwine Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 200
Posts: 20360 | Pam Bondi new AG pick Quote: Bondi was the lead attorney general in an unsuccessful lawsuit seeking to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (known as Obamacare) in Florida et al v. United States Department of Health and Human Services. In the lawsuit the State of Florida and 26 other states argued that the individual mandate provision of the ACA violates the United States Constitution.[12]
In 2016, Bondi gave a speech at the Republican National Convention, during which she led "Lock her up" chants directed at the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.[13]
In 2018, Bondi joined with 19 other Republican-led states in a lawsuit to overturn the ACA's bans on health insurance companies charging people with pre-existing conditions higher premiums or denying them coverage outright.[14]
In August 2018, while still serving as Florida Attorney General, Bondi co-hosted The Five on Fox News three days in a row while also appearing on Sean Hannity's Fox News show.[19] Fox News claimed that the Florida Commission on Ethics had approved Bondi's appearance on the program; however, spokeswoman for the commission denied that, telling the Tampa Bay Times that no decision was made by the commission and that the commission's general counsel did not make a determination whether or not Bondi's appearance as a host violated the Florida Code of Ethics. The Tampa Bay Times described it as "unprecedented" for a sitting elected official to host a TV show.[19]
Fundraising controversies
Beginning in 2010, Bondi's association with Scientology and the multiple fundraisers that wealthy Scientologists have organized for Bondi's political campaigns have provoked controversy.[20] Bondi has justified those contacts and her speeches before leading Scientologists by arguing that the group wishes to help her crack down on human trafficking.[21][22]
In 2011, Bondi also pressured two attorneys to resign who were investigating Lender Processing Services, a financial services company now known as Black Knight, following the robosigning scandal, as part of their work for Florida's Economic Crime Division. After the resignations, Bondi received campaign contributions from Lender Processing Services, though she denied any quid pro quo.[23]
In 2013, Bondi persuaded Governor Rick Scott to postpone a scheduled execution because it conflicted with a fundraising event.[24] After questions were raised in the media, Bondi apologized for moving the execution date.[25][26]
Trump donation to Bondi PAC
In 2013, Bondi also received criticism following a campaign donation from Donald Trump.[27] Prior to the donation, Bondi had received at least 22 fraud complaints regarding Trump University. A spokesperson for Bondi announced that her office was considering joining a lawsuit initiated by Eric Schneiderman, the Attorney General of New York, regarding tax fraud potential charges against Trump.[28][29] Four days later, however, a political action committee established by Bondi to support her re-election, And Justice for All, received a $25,000 donation from the Donald J. Trump Foundation, after which Bondi declined to join the lawsuit against Trump University. Both Bondi and Trump defended the propriety of the nonprofit foundation's political donation.[30][31]
In 2016, after Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service regarding the 2013 Trump donation, the Trump Foundation stated that the donation had been made in error. It said that the Foundation had intended for the donation to go not to Bondi's PAC, but instead to an unrelated Kansas non-profit called Justice for All.[32][33] However, in June 2016, as Bondi was facing renewed criticism over the Trump donation and her decision not to join the lawsuit, her spokesman said that Bondi had solicited the donation directly from Trump several weeks before her office announced it was considering joining the lawsuit against him.[29][34] On March 14, 2016, Bondi endorsed Trump in the 2016 Florida Republican presidential primary, saying she had been friends with Trump for many years.[35][36] In June 2016, a spokesperson for Governor Rick Scott stated that the state's ethics commission was looking into the matter, though nothing further came from the investigation.[37]
In September 2016, the IRS determined that the donation to Bondi's PAC violated laws against political contributions from nonprofit organizations, and ordered Trump to pay a fine for the contribution. Trump also was required to reimburse the foundation for the sum that had been donated to Bondi.[38] Neither Bondi nor her PAC were fined or criminally charged. In November 2019, Trump was ordered by a New York state court to close down the foundation and pay $2 million in damages for misusing it, including the illegal donation to Bondi.[39]
In 2021, The Daily Beast reported that it obtained records relating to Trump's illegal donation to Bondi, which show that Trump's organization knew that the money was being given to a PAC in Florida rather than a Kansas non-profit. The records include an email in August 2013 from Bondi's campaign finance director Deborah Ramsey Aleksander to Trump's executive assistant, Rhona Graff, identifying the PAC as an Electioneering Communications Organization and thanking Graff for meeting with her, for the promised $25,000 donation, and "for always being so responsive and wonderful to work with". A spokesperson for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington called these documents "a smoking gun" that destroys the story that Trump and Bondi had concocted to excuse the donation.[40]
Return to private life
In 2019, after her final term as Florida attorney general, Bondi was hired by Ballard Partners, a firm with close ties to Trump, and she began working as a registered lobbyist for Qatar. In November 2019, she was hired by the first Trump administration to help the White House during Trump's first impeachment proceedings, being given special Government employee status, allowing Bondi to simultaneously work for the government and as a lobbyist for the Arab lobby.[41][42][43] Her position was described the following month as being to "attack the process" of the impeachment inquiry.[44] On January 17, 2020, Bondi was named as part of Trump's defense team for the Senate impeachment trial.[45]
During the course of the impeachment trial, Bondi made[46] allegations that former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden were involved in corruption in Ukraine, stemming from Hunter Biden's position on board of Burisma Holdings. It was also revealed that Lev Parnas, a businessman with close ties to Rudy Giuliani and Ukraine, had several meetings with Bondi in 2018 while she was the Florida Attorney General, and after she left office in 2019.[47][48] In 2019, Parnas was arrested and accused of illegally funneling foreign money from Ukrainians and Russians to Republican politicians, particularly in Florida, where he lived.[49][50][51][52]
Bondi spoke in support of Trump at the 2020 Republican National Convention.[53][54] While ballots were being counted in the 2020 United States presidential election, Bondi supported Trump's claims that there was large-scale voter fraud in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.[55][56]
In an appearance on Fox News on November 5, 2020, host Steve Doocy challenged Bondi to provide evidence for her claims of fraud, which she refused to do.[57] Bondi later claimed that Trump had won Pennsylvania, despite votes there still being counted, with his opponent Joe Biden ultimately winning the state.[56]
During the following lame-duck session, Trump appointed Bondi to the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.[58] The Palm Beach Post described the appointment as a reward for her loyalty to Trump.[59]
By 2024, Bondi led the legal arm of the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute, a dark money nonprofit that planned policies for a potential second Trump presidency. She worked to file voting lawsuits in battleground states relating to the 2024 presidential election.[60]
Deep State = sensible people trying to derail the sociopath |
