Donald Trump fires US Attorney-General Pam Bondi

Donald Trump has fired US Attorney-General Pam Bondi.

The US president said in a post on Truth Social that Ms Bondi was leaving the US government and “transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector”.

Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche would serve as acting attorney-general, he added.

According to US media, the president had grown increasingly frustrated with Ms Bondi’s performance, especially over her handling of investigative files related to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“Pam Bondi is a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my Attorney General over the past year,” Mr Trump wrote in a post.

“Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown in Crime across our Country, with Murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900.

“We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future.”

Ms Bondi, in a post on X, said serving as attorney general had been “the honor of a lifetime” and said she will “continue fighting for President Trump” in her unspecified new private sector job.

“Over the next month I will be working tirelessly to transition the office of Attorney General to the amazing Todd Blanche,” she said.

“I remain eternally grateful for the trust that President Trump placed in me to Make America Safe Again.”

Ms Bondi and Mr Trump attended a Supreme Court hearing together on Wednesday.

Ms Bondi had been accused of covering up or mismanaging the release of records on the Department of Justice’s sex trafficking investigations into Epstein, a financier who cultivated ties with an array of wealthy and powerful figures.

During a combative hearing before a House of Representatives panel in January, Ms Bondi responded to criticism with political attacks directed at lawmakers.

She refused to apologise or look at Epstein survivors and their relatives who attended the proceedings.

Ms Bondi served as a prosecutor for 18 years before being elected Florida’s attorney-general in 2010, the first woman to hold the post.

She was re-elected to a second term in 2014.

Ms Bondi joined Mr Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial, where he was alleged to have pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to find political dirt on his 2020 election opponent, Joe Biden.

She came into office last year pledging that she would not play politics with the Justice Department but ultimately she upended the Justice Department’s culture of independence from the White House.

She quickly started investigations of Trump foes, sparked an outcry that the law enforcement agency was being wielded as a tool of revenge to advance the president’s political and personal agenda.

Yet Mr Trump had reportedly grown annoyed that Ms Bondi was not moving quickly enough to prosecute critics and adversaries who he wanted to face criminal charges.

In a social media post that was apparently meant to be a private message he said: “We can’t delay any longer — it’s killing our reputation and credibility.”

Under Ms Bondi’s leadership, the department opened investigations into a string of Trump foes, including Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, New York Attorney-General Letitia James, former FBI director James Comey and former CIA director John Brennan.

But multiple investigations were rejected by judges or grand juries.

Mr Blanche, who will take over from Ms Bondi, said she led the department with “strength and conviction”.

“I’m grateful for her leadership and friendship,” he wrote on X.

“Thank you to President Trump for the trust and the opportunity to serve as acting attorney-general.

“We will continue backing the blue, enforcing the law, and doing everything in our power to keep America safe.”

Mr Blanche is a former federal prosecutor who worked as Mr Trump’s criminal defence attorney in two cases brought by the department under President Joe Biden’s administration.

He was also a key figure on the president’s defence team in the hush-money case against Mr Trump in New York.

Ms Bondi is the second senior Trump official to be ousted recently.

Mr Trump removed Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem in early March following criticism of her management of the agency and Mr Trump’s immigration agenda.

Bondi was due to testify over Epstein files

Ms Bondi was just weeks away from testifying over the Epstein files after the Republican-led House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena her.

Ms Bondi early last year said a client list was on her desk for review but then the initial release of files included material that had largely already been public.

The Department of Justice and FBI declared months later that the case was closed and that no further disclosures were warranted.

That move prompted an eruption of criticism and eventually a bipartisan law passed in November requiring the department to release nearly all of its files.

The release of roughly three million pages of records did not quell the controversy, as lawmakers criticised redactions in the files and the disclosure of the identities of some Epstein survivors.

‘Good riddance’: US reacts to Bondi’s sacking

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a political opponent, made clear her views on Ms Bondi after the news was announced.

“Good riddance,” the Democrat said.

“Under Attorney-General Pam Bondi, the Department of Justice became a cesspool of corruption.

“Bondi will be remembered for blocking the release of the Epstein files [and] weaponising the DOJ to go after Trump’s political opponents.”

While senator Mark Warner said Bondi had “botched handling of the Epstein files” and “denied victims transparency and further undermined trust in our justice system”.

“Americans deserve a Justice Department that is actually focused on delivering justice, not on serving a president’s agenda of personal and political self-interest,” Mr Warner said.