Tragic Details About Trump's Attorney General Pam Bondi

Pam Bondi's name has become synonymous with Donald Trump's — which, depending on how you look at it, is a tragedy in and of itself — thanks to her unwavering loyalty to him, a trait the president is said to value greatly. It's therefore rather odd (and insulting, to say the least) that she wasn't the first candidate he considered for the position of attorney general after he won the 2024 election, especially since she held the position of Florida's attorney general previously, arguably making her an ideal candidate. Instead, Trump offered the position to Matt Gaetz, who has a lengthy list of scandals attached to his name, some of which include sex trafficking and statutory rape.

Several Republican senators expressed their shock that Trump would appoint someone with Gaetz's track record to his administration, and in the position of attorney general, no less. When the Florida Representative declined the nomination eight days later amid an unrelenting media tempest, Trump turned to Bondi as his next pick. MSNBC contributor Steve Benen called her "only marginally less ridiculous than Gaetz." Bondi has been heavily criticized for supporting Trump's thoroughly debunked claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent and even attempted to help the divisive politician overturn the results. Her questionable life decisions don't end there, however. Bondi's road to the White House has been littered with personal tragedies and tribulations.

A scandal that keeps coming back to bite Pam Bondi is her former involvement in throwing out a case relating to alleged fraud at Trump University in 2013. Ahead of Bondi's office's decision not to pursue the case, it just so happens that Donald Trump made a generous donation to her political election committee (which wasn't legal). Many were unconvinced that the donation and the subsequent nixing of the case weren't related, but both Bondi and Trump insisted they were innocent in the matter. It's worth noting that Trump paid a hefty $25 million settlement to avoid the lawsuits against Trump University proceeding to court. This also led to the eventual downfall of the school.

Bondi has continued to favor Trump when it comes to his clandestine activities, some of which led to his New York fraud case woes. She supported him at his court hearings and made the serious allegations against him (he was convicted on 34 felony counts) off as the work of a corrupt justice system. "A tremendous amount of trust is lost in the justice system tonight," she told Fox News after the verdict. "The American people see through it." 

When it comes to love, Pam Bondi hasn't exactly been lucky. She's been married twice, and both relationships ended in divorce. Bondi's first marriage to Garret Barnes in 1990 was swift. The couple stuck it out for less than two years before calling it quits. Scott Fitzgerald became Bondi's new beau and they tied the knot in 1996. The couple seemed to be going strong, especially when their marriage exceeded the length of Bondi's first nuptials, but after six years together, this marriage, too, ended in divorce.

There's been ample speculation that Bondi's career-driven personality was the reason for her failed marriages, especially because she was only 24 when she first married Barnes and still in the process of kicking off her legal career. Pundits suspect her second marriage ended for similar reasons, but this time because she was taking on more work and started becoming more well known in the public sphere, likely leaving less time to spend working on her marriage.

Pam Bondi was unlucky in love a third time while dating Greg Henderson, an ophthalmologist. There was plenty of public interest in their relationship, and the two got engaged in 2012. The couple subsequently spent a romantic getaway together in the Caribbean, and when photographs of a beaming Bondi wearing a white dress on the beach with her man by her side started making the rounds, the internet was convinced the couple had tied the knot, so much so that Bondi ended up releasing a statement refuting the claims. "We are enjoying a happy and blessed trip and are deeply in love with each other," it read, per Express. She did, however, admit that they had planned on getting married in the Caribbean but canceled at the last minute. She insisted it had nothing to do with problems in their relationship, calling all the rumors a "contrived fabrication" (via The Times of India) and that she was shocked by the public's reaction.

Bondi and Henderson never revealed exactly what derailed their Caribbean-planned wedding. Bondi did, however, express her intentions to do things the traditional way and have her nuptials at a church in her hometown of Tampa, Florida. Whether these planned nuptials ever took place remains a mystery, but in 2015, rumors were rife that Bondi and Henderson had called it quits.

College professor and MSNBC contributor Jason Johnson insisted that Pam Bondi, contrary to some of Donald Trump's other, er, questionable cabinet picks, is, in fact, "competent." "We may not agree with her ideologically, but she actually knows how to do this job," Johnson claimed. Bondi might know her way around the law, but this didn't help her win a lengthy custody battle over a dog in 2005. The legal battle, which lasted 16 months, saw Bondi refusing to return a couple's St. Bernard to them after she adopted him from a rescue shelter in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The dog's owners, Steve and Doreen Couture, reportedly tried everything in their power to find their four-legged companion after the hurricane separated them, but Bondi claimed the dog had been neglected and therefore refused to give him up. "I took a dog who was a walking skeleton," she told the St. Petersburg Times (via Business Insider) at the time. "That's what was wrong with him before the hurricane." She said she didn't believe the Coutures looked after the dog and therefore wasn't willing to return him to a home where he'd be neglected. The Coutures argued the dog had heartworms, hence his scant weight.

In the end, Bondi settled with the family, who promised to stay in touch and keep her updated on the St. Bernard. Bondi, in turn, committed to covering the dog's medical bills and food, a promise the Coutures later said she failed to keep. During an interview with the St. Petersburg Times in 2010, the couple said they were no longer in contact with Bondi. "She has no compassion at all," they alleged.

When you have a lengthy history with Donald Trump, you're bound to get your hands dirty along the way, and Pam Bondi, who not only defended Trump when the Senate impeached him the first time around, but also actively tried to aid the divisive politician in overturning the 2020 election, doesn't exactly have a clean track record. "We've won Pennsylvania and we want every vote to be counted in a fair way," she initially told the press (via AP News), but was later forced to admit that Joe Biden had indeed won Pennsylvania fair and square. She's also echoed Trump's claims that the Democrats weaponized the Justice Department (most notably to charge Trump with 34 felony counts).

During her confirmation hearing for the attorney general nomination, Democrats wasted no time questioning Bondi's morals, asking her about her unwavering loyalty to Trump and how that would affect her judgment as attorney general. They grilled her over the pardons she issued for the January 6 insurrectionists and, in turn, accused her of weaponizing the Justice Department.

Bondi didn't do much to ease concerns, refusing to deny the possibility of prosecuting some of Trump's political rivals. Democrats also questioned whether she'll serve as Trump's puppet to ensure he and his allies remain above the law, so to speak. Delaware Senator Chris Coons got right into it, asking Bondi what her response would be if the White House demanded she throw out a case with merit. "Senator, if I thought that would happen, I would not be sitting here today. That will not happen," Bondi replied (via AP News). Whether she'll keep her word remains to be seen.