Next up: after Matt Gaetz pulls out, Prez-Elect Trump names former Florida AG Pam Bondi to be next US AG

As reported in this AP piece, "President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday named Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, to be U.S. attorney general just hours after his other choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration." Here is more:

Bondi is a longtime Trump ally and was one of his lawyers during his first impeachment trial ... [and] was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York.... She’s been a chair at the America First Policy Institute, a think tank set up by former Trump administration staffers.

“For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans - Not anymore,” Trump said in a social media post. “Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again.”

Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. told Fox Business on Sunday that the transition team had backups in mind for his controversial nominees should they fail to get confirmed. The swift selection of Bondi came about six hours after Gaetz withdrew....

Last week, Trump named personal lawyers Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and D. John Sauer to senior roles in the department. Another possible attorney general contender, Matt Whitaker, was announced Wednesday as the U.S. ambassador to NATO.

Bondi, too, is a longtime loyalist. She has been a vocal critic of the criminal cases against Trump as well as Jack Smith, the special counsel who charged Trump in two federal cases. In one radio appearance, she blasted Smith and other prosecutors who have charged Trump as “horrible” people she said were trying to make names for themselves by “going after Donald Trump and weaponizing our legal system.”

I would guess that Bondi should have a much smoother path to Senate confirmation than was expected for Gaetz, and it will be interesting to hear at confirmation hearings about her plans for leading the Justice Department  I am not familiar at all with her criminal justice record while Florida's AG, but this bio page describes her work this way:

While Attorney General she worked for tough legislation to close pill mills, ban synthetic drugs, combat human trafficking, curtail Medicare fraud, and address harmful mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices.  She worked with the White House on the First Step Act designed to help formerly incarcerated inmates reenter society safely and giving them the ability to succeed. 

I have also seen in press pieces that she was a vocal supporter of the First Step Act, and I am hopeful she will advance efforts to give that landmark reform its full due in application (assuming she is confirmed as our nation's next Attorney General).

UPDATE:  I just found this 2020 Washington Post piece, headlined "White House assembles team of advisers to guide clemency process as Trump considers more pardons," which discusses Bondi's work assisting Trump in the clemency space back in 2020:

Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general who served on Trump’s impeachment defense team, is also playing a significant role, vetting applications for potential pardon recipients. Kushner has personally reviewed applications with White House lawyers before presenting them to Trump for final approval, according to two senior administration officials.

I wonder if Prez-Elect Trump might look for help from an AG Bondi if and when he plans to make good on his clemency promises to Jan 6 defendants.