Trump has discussed removing Pam Bondi as attorney general, sources say
President Donald Trump has raised potentially removing Pam Bondi as attorney general in recent discussions with senior administration officials, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News, amid months of mounting frustration that the Justice Department isn't doing enough to target his political opponents for prosecution.
It's not immediately clear whether Trump will move forward with forcing Bondi out from her role, the sources said, though the discussions have advanced as far as considering whether she could be replaced with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin or Bondi's deputy attorney general Todd Blanche.
Bondi's removal would likely create alarm among critics who have accused the Trump administration of weaponizing the Justice Department, and will raise questions as to whether the president plans to install a replacement who will be even more aggressive in pursuing his political foes.
In response to reports that he was considering firing Bondi, Trump said Wednesday in a statement provided by the White House, "Attorney General Pam Bondi is a wonderful person and she is doing a good job."
Bondi has already aggressively sought to reshape the Justice Department as an enforcer of Trump's agenda -- repeatedly breaking with institutional norms implemented after the Watergate era that had encouraged independence from the political demands of the White House.
From her first days in office, Bondi emphasized her personal loyalty to Trump and echoed his longstanding grievances with the DOJ and FBI, which the president and his allies have long accused of being "weaponized" against him.
During Trump's first term in office he faced resistance from top officials at the DOJ and FBI against using the vast powers of their agencies to punish the president's perceived enemies, but Bondi publicly embraced Trump's demands to launch prosecutions against specific targets -- to mixed effect.
In recent months, Trump has repeatedly vented frustration to aides regarding both the pace and the effectiveness of the Justice Department's ability to target his foes -- concerns he had also conveyed directly to Bondi -- according to sources familiar with the matter.
Trump and other senior White House officials have also criticized Bondi's handling of the DOJ's files from its investigations into deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which has consumed months of media attention and led to widespread backlash from some of Trump's most devoted supporters.
Bondi's appearance in front of the House Judiciary Committee in February, in which she repeatedly yelled at lawmakers and sidestepped questions about the DOJ's handling of the Epstein files and other sensitive matters, was also the subject of some criticism at the White House, sources say.
Trump publicly voiced support for Bondi in the aftermath of the appearance, saying in a social media post that she was "fantastic."
