STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Attorney General Pam Bondi is out.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Yeah. Bondi made history as attorney general, going to exceptional lengths to make the Justice Department subservient to the political whims of her boss. Federal prosecutors spent tax dollars seeking indictments of the president's political opponents, and they were repeatedly accused of misleading judges or defying court orders. But there was at least one way that Bondi displeased the president.
INSKEEP: For that, we turn now to NPR's Supreme Court and justice correspondent Carrie Johnson. And if it has anything to do with the law, Carrie covers it. Carrie, good morning.
CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE: Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: What did Pam Bondi not do for Trump?
JOHNSON: The White House thinks she mishandled law enforcement files related to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Last year, Bondi brought in a group of MAGA personalities, gave them binders of papers, but the Trump loyalists said those were old news. And then in an interview with Fox News, Bondi went further.
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The DOJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients? Will that really happen?
PAM BONDI: It's sitting on my desk right now to review.
JOHNSON: Later, DOJ said there was no such client list, which only added fuel to conspiracy theories. Eventually, Justice did make some files public. But lawmakers say a lot remains hidden, and some of what DOJ did release were names or images of victims of Epstein's abuse. Bondi had been set for a deposition in Congress later this month, but it's not clear now whether that's going to happen.
INSKEEP: Now, A mentioned that Bondi did make efforts to prosecute the president's political opponents, people the president didn't like. How did that turn out?
JOHNSON: The irony is that she tried to advance criminal cases against Trump's perceived enemies, but judges and grand juries in many cases did not seem to be buying that. Cases against the former FBI Director Jim Comey, New York Attorney General Tish James - those got thrown out. Another grand jury refused to indict Democratic lawmakers who made a video telling service members to follow their oaths and disobey illegal orders. But Trump wanted to see more, more - cases against California Senator Adam Schiff, former CIA Director John Brennan. The problem is there may not be evidence to do that. Traditionally, prosecutors need to be confident they'd win a conviction before they bring any kind of case.
INSKEEP: So what do you see as the legacy of this distinctive attorney general?
JOHNSON: It's really a big legacy. She presided over a massive exodus at the Justice Department - hundreds of prosecutors and FBI agents now gone, reshaping the institution. The founder of a group that supports DOJ workers says Bondi took a sledgehammer to the place, and no one's done more to degrade DOJ's independence or integrity in the department's 155-year history.
INSKEEP: Wow.
JOHNSON: Judges, of course, have criticized the department for blowing off orders. Grand juries pretty frequently declined to bring indictments, which almost never happened before last year. And some of the top leaders in the FBI who were fired last year have sued. They say they were ousted for political reasons - because they were not sufficiently loyal to Donald Trump. And the nonprofit advocacy group Public Citizen says Bondi's departure shows no one can be loyal enough for Trump.
INSKEEP: Well, what do you know about Todd Blanche, who we'll mention is the deputy attorney general, now running the DOJ day-to-day?
JOHNSON: He's a former personal lawyer to Trump. There's been a lot of angling in and outside the administration over who might become the next attorney general on a permanent basis. Of course, that person would require confirmation from the Senate, and the administration may want to move this year in case the Senate changes hands in the midterm elections.
INSKEEP: NPR's Carrie Johnson. Thanks so much.
JOHNSON: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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