How Bondi’s Prosecutor Roots Would Inform Her Style Leading DOJ

Pam Bondi’s formative years as a prosecutor and state politician are what lawyers who’ve known her longest are counting on to guide her approach should she be confirmed as Donald Trump’s attorney general.

Well before she served as Trump’s impeachment lawyer and Fox News surrogate, she developed a reputation as a trial attorney who could charm juries and local TV news viewers alike.

As the president-elect’s pick to run the Justice Department, her law enforcement bonafides are highlighted by supporters in the face of criticism that her ties to Trump would enable his plans to break down DOJ’s traditional independence from the White House.

Those arguments will be aired during a Senate confirmation process in which she’s still expected to win approval as a more mainstream nominee relative to other Trump Cabinet selections.

Here are five takeaways from Bondi’s legal career that indicate how she might approach the role of attorney general:

Don’t Underestimate

“People look at Pam and they see a very pretty blond haired woman, and she’s incredibly nice, and I think people would underestimate her,” said Nick Cox, Bondi’s supervisor in the 1990s at the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office. When Bondi was elected Florida attorney general in 2010, Cox was one of her first hires as statewide prosecutor.

Whether it was opposing lawyers, jury members, or new judges, who overlooked her, they’d soon come to realize she was tenacious, Cox added. For instance, when he and Bondi were prosecuting a gang member for murder, another gang member threatened Cox during a break. Bondi jumped to his aid, yelling back at the man, he said.

“I was like, ‘Pam leave it alone,’ and she’s like, ‘no, we’re not putting up with this. We’re not going to be intimidated.’”

Good Listener

Even defense lawyers who disagreed with her on particular cases respected her willingness to hear them out.

“She was approachable, she would listen,” said Bjorn Brunvand, a veteran criminal defense lawyer in Tampa. “It wasn’t like just rubberstamping anything.”

At the same time, Brunvand, who’s defended convicts on death row, said he’s expecting a “possibly significant increase in capital cases that might get authorized in the federal court” under Bondi’s leadership. But that’s in part due to forces outside her control in the new administration, he said, adding that her background presiding over state death penalty decisions at least gives her a “greater appreciation for the issues that are important.”

‘Perfect’ Disrupter

“If what Trump wants to do is reorganize DOJ, she is the perfect person,” said Richard Escobar, whose criminal defense firm has frequently litigated against Bondi. “Every institution maybe needs a little shakeup every now and then.”

Bondi’s friends also see her as the right person to satisfy those who’ve been persuaded by Trump’s complaints that the department must be overhauled to remove partisan influences that led to his two federal indictments.

“I won’t be surprised if she takes a very close look at DOJ’s record the past four years and starts to make changes to increase the trust of the American people that the Department of Justice is not a politicized agency,” said Justin Sayfie, who’s known Bondi since 2010 and has been her colleague the past five years at lobbying firm Ballard Partners.

That could mean investigations into the origins of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s criminal probes of Trump.

Proven Delegator

Bondi is known for focusing on her areas of passion, such as human trafficking, opioid abuse, and violent crime, while empowering others in areas she lacks expertise, said multiple lawyers.

Dan Gelber, the Democrat Bondi defeated in the 2010 state attorney general race, said he was friendly with many of the senior staffers she inherited at the state AG’s office.

“A lot of them became very loyal to her. And they were careerists. They weren’t her people,” said Gelber, who remains in touch with Bondi. “They were people who had been there, and she was smart enough to rely on them and to value them.”

Skilled Communicator

She’s always had a knack for communicating on TV about law enforcement. In the middle of her 18 years at the Tampa-area state attorney’s office, Bondi stopped trying cases as frequently to take on the role of office spokesperson.

It was in this capacity that she began getting attention for regular television appearances. She honed a talent for distilling long, complicated trials into quick soundbites in plainspoken language.

Her ability to connect with viewers is what motivated Adam Goodman to approach her about embarking on a career in politics. Goodman, who said he was the first person to ask her to run for state AG, was struck by her unusual attitude during campaign ad shoots.

“Pam thoroughly enjoyed the filming part of things. A lot of candidates don’t like that. It’s like, ‘oh my god, let’s get this over with,’” said Goodman, who also works with Bondi at Ballard. “Pam loved it, and she was and is a natural talent.”

Her comfort in the spotlight is also why Florida lawyers predict she’ll be more public-facing in explaining DOJ decisions than outgoing Attorney General Merrick Garland.