Washington:
President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday nominated Pam Bondi, a staunch ally who helped protect the former leader from impeachment, as attorney general after firebrand Matt Gaetz withdrew his candidacy. .
Gaetz’s withdrawal amid sexual misconduct allegations signaled the limits of Trump’s power, even as the president-elect prepares to take back the White House with Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress. .
The nomination of Bondi, a former Florida attorney general who represented him in his 2024 campaign and pushed to outlaw vote counting in the battleground state of Pennsylvania in 2020, comes as Trump seeks to resolve personal grievances. This could be seen as a useful tool for him. .
In announcing Bondi’s nomination, President Trump wrote on his Truth social network: “For too long, a partisan Justice Department has been used as a weapon against me and other Republicans, and that’s no longer the case.” No,” he wrote.
Bondi, 59, was part of Trump’s defense team in his first Senate impeachment trial, in which he used his aid as leverage to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to hand over political dirt to Biden. He is said to have applied pressure.
“Pam will refocus the Department of Justice on its original purpose of fighting crime and making America safe again,” Trump wrote, calling her “smart, tough and America’s First Fighter.” he added.
President Trump has appointed Fox News host Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense, vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health, and billionaire Elon Musk as head of government spending. The company has made selections to several notable positions, including the appointment of
The departure of Gates, 42, is the first setback for Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance in their bid to install a key ally at the top, due to a lack of support from Republicans. Gates’ confirmation in the Senate was widely seen as hopeless.
ethics investigation
Congressional committees are investigating allegations of illegal activity by Gates, including sexual contact with a 17-year-old girl, which he denies, as well as drug use and misappropriation of campaign funds.
“I had a great meeting with the senators yesterday,” Gaetz told X.
“While momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation unfairly impeded the important work of the Trump-Vance transition.”
Gaetz was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2016 and was recently re-elected, but resigned shortly after President Trump nominated him for attorney general.
“Matt has a great future ahead of him and I look forward to seeing him do great things,” Trump said in response to his resignation.
The highly polarizing ethics investigation into Florida congressman Gates effectively ended with his resignation from the House.
Gaetz is known as a political subversive who provoked the animosity of some members of the House last year, including by maneuvering to oust fellow Republican Kevin McCarthy from the speakership.
The latest chaos in the presidential transition ahead of Trump’s inauguration on January 20th came as new and mysterious details about Secretary of Defense nominee Hegseth were revealed.
He was investigated for sexual assault after an anonymous woman complained to him at a conference in California in 2017.
The New York Times reported details of the police investigation, which ended without charges against Hegseth.
The married woman told officers her recollection of the incident was vague and that she thought her drink had been spiked, but Hegseth said the encounter was consensual.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
