The day earlier than Florida’s 2016 presidential main, the state lawyer basic, Pam Bondi, stunned her fellow Republicans and endorsed Donald J. Trump at a rally in Tampa, her hometown. Few big-name Republicans within the state had but backed Mr. Trump, however she noticed slightly little bit of herself in him: an outsider with no expertise in elective workplace.
Ms. Bondi first gained the state lawyer basic’s race in 2010, through the Tea Celebration wave that catapulted novice Republican candidates like her into energy. By 2016, she was a part of the state’s political institution and noticed her celebration was on the cusp of one other pivotal second — and her foresight then is accountable now for Mr. Trump’s determination to select her to be his lawyer basic.
Over the past eight years, as Florida turned Mr. Trump’s dwelling, a cradle of right-wing politics and a solidly Republican state, Ms. Bondi went from being a standard Republican to a Trump loyalist. Appearing as confidante, impeachment lawyer and adviser, she ascended within the president-elect’s inside circle due to the mix of attraction, savvy and a lightweight contact that characterised her profession as a telegenic prosecutor and a politician.
Florida is dwelling to each model of Trump Republican, together with flamethrowers like Matt Gaetz, the previous congressman who was compelled to withdraw as Mr. Trump’s first alternative for lawyer basic due to scandal. However maybe nobody higher displays the political evolution of the state and its once-establishment leaders than Ms. Bondi, 59, whose small danger in endorsing Mr. Trump early in 2016 paid off in a giant approach, making her the comparatively protected decide after Mr. Gaetz’s choice collapsed.
Dave Aronberg, the Democratic state lawyer in Palm Seashore County, who beforehand labored beneath Ms. Bondi for 2 years as her drug czar within the lawyer basic’s workplace, mentioned that whereas their politics differ, he felt relieved that Mr. Trump had picked her.
“She’s a 20-year prosecutor whose arguments are at all times tethered to the regulation,” he added. “She’s not going to stroll Anthony Fauci in an orange jumpsuit simply to make headlines.”
Mr. Trump’s critics, nonetheless, are nervous that her report of fealty to Mr. Trump — she labored on the protection staff for his impeachment trial and supported his claims of election fraud in 2020 — indicators that the Justice Division’s independence could be compromised.
