Pam Bondi

Pamela Jo Bondi (born November 17, 1965) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician.

Bondi graduated from the University of Florida in 1987 with a degree in Criminal Justice and was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority.

She earned a JD from Stetson Law School in 1990 and was admitted to the Florida Bar on June 24, 1991.

Bondi acted as a prosecutor and spokeswoman in Hillsborough County, Florida, where she was an Assistant State Attorney.

Bondi resigned this position to seek the office of Attorney General of Florida.

She has made guest appearances on Scarborough Country with Joe Scarborough and various other cable news programming on MSNBC and worked for Fox News as a guest host.

Bondi prosecuted former Major League Baseball player Dwight Gooden in 2006 for violating the terms of his probation and for substance abuse.

In 2007, Bondi also prosecuted the defendants in Martin Anderson's death.

Bondi ran for Florida Attorney General in the 2010 election, facing off against former state representative Holly Benson and lieutenant governor Jeff Kottkamp in the Republican primary.

In a competitive field, Bondi notably received the support of former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin.

The Palm Beach Post credited her surge in support in the primary to her media-savviness, including regular appearances on Fox News and her public association with Sean Hannity.

Polling conducted by Mason Dixon in August 2010 found her leading both Benson and Kottkamp in the primary.

She ultimately won the primary with 37.89% of the vote.

In the general election, she faced Democratic nominee Dan Gelber, a former prosecutor who spent 10 years in the state legislature.

She ultimately comfortably defeated Gelber to become the state's first female Attorney General.

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.

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.

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.

A Republican, she served as the 37th Florida attorney general from 2011 to 2019, the first woman elected to the office.

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.

In 2013, Bondi persuaded Governor Rick Scott to postpone a scheduled execution because it conflicted with a fundraising event.

After questions were raised in the media, Bondi apologized for moving the execution date.

In 2013, Bondi also received criticism following a campaign donation from Donald Trump.

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.

Bondi was re-elected in November 2014, receiving 55% of the vote.

Her Democratic challenger George Sheldon, the former acting commissioner of the Administration for Children and Families, received 42%.

Following the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting in June 2016, Bondi was interviewed by CNN reporter Anderson Cooper, who said that Bondi's expression of support for the LGBT community was at odds with her past record.

Cooper said that Bondi was "either mistaken or not telling the truth," while Bondi accused Cooper of fomenting "anger and hate."

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.

Bondi opposed same-sex marriage and other LGBT rights issues on behalf of the state.

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.

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.

In 2020, Bondi was one of longtime ally President Donald Trump's defense lawyers during his first impeachment trial.

Bondi's hometown is Temple Terrace, Florida.

Her father, Joseph Bondi, was a city council member and then Mayor of Temple Terrace.

She is a graduate of C. Leon King High School in Tampa.