Name: Trump fires Pam Bondi as attorney general
Uploaded: 2026-04-03T03:10:45.695Z
Duration: 2 min 36 s
Description: President Donald Trump ousted Pam Bondi as attorney general and named Todd Blanche as acting attorney general. FOX 13’s Craig Patrick reports.

President Donald Trump ousted Pam Bondi as attorney general and named Todd Blanche as acting attorney general. FOX 13’s Craig Patrick reports.

Washington

President Trump has fired Pam Bondi from her position as attorney general after a series of controversies, including her handling of the Epstein case, a contentious congressional hearing, and failure to secure indictments against several political adversaries. Bondi's comments on hate speech following the assassination of Charlie Kirk also raised concerns among conservatives, further contributing to her removal.

Todd Blanche, who previously served as Trump's defense attorney and held a senior Justice Department role, is currently acting attorney general. Other potential candidates for the permanent position include EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and Senator Mike Lee of Utah, both of whom are favored by segments of the Trump base.

Trump fires Pam Bondi as attorney general

on this. Our political editor Craig Patrick is here now. Craig, we heard a few examples why the president would oust Bondi. It seems she's been on thin ice for quite some time. She has been in the turning point would be last February and you just heard that moment when she said on Fox News she had the Epstein client list on her desk. She may have misspoken. She may have meant the broader case file and upon further review, she didn't find a client list in it. But that was followed up by, well, we're going to release it tomorrow. Tomorrow didn't come. Months of speculation followed. She also made the determination that Epstein died by suicide based on prison surveillance video that appeared to have been edited. And then fast forwarding to this February, you had a very high profile hearing in Congress in which it was very contentious and did not go particularly well for Pam Bondi. It was not well received or reportedly reviewed necessarily by Trump's inner circle. And on top of that, you have the president wanting indictments on a number of his political adversaries, including New York Attorney General Letitia James on California Senator Adam Schiff on the Fed Governor Lisa Cook on Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve. And because the Justice Department under Bondi's leadership has not yet or has been unable to secure specific indictments of those individuals or others that brought her stock down even more. Plus, you have months ago after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Pam Bondi saying that the administration was going to go after hate speech, which raised real qualms among conservatives who place a very high value on the First Amendment taken altogether. It ultimately led to the ouster we saw today looking at what is next. What do we know about her replacement? Well, Todd Blanche, the acting currently Attorney General, could get the permanent nod. It remains to be seen. He certainly is a Trump loyalist to the extent that he was his defense attorney and the classified documents case in the hush money case in New York as well. And given the fact that he had a number two position in the Justice Department, it makes some logic that he would be the acting leader at this point, and that may well advance to permanent. But the other name you hearing, as mentioned, Lee Zeldin, the EPA administrator, a favorite among the Trump base, particularly after his 22 2022 run for governor in New York State. That is a top name to watch. Another one might be Senator Mike Lee of Utah. All right, Greg Patrick reporting tonight. Great. Thank you. Thank you.

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