Trump Fires Attorney General Pam Bondi Over Epstein Files and Failure to Prosecute Political Opponents — Todd Blanche Named Acting AG

President Donald Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday after a turbulent 14 months marked by fallout over the Jeffrey Epstein files and what Trump and his allies saw as insufficient pursuit of investigations into his political opponents.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously served as one of Trump’s personal defense lawyers, will assume the role of acting attorney general, Trump announced on Truth Social, according to CNN.

Trump offered no specific reason for the dismissal. Instead, he praised Bondi as “a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend” and credited her with overseeing what he described as a major drop in crime during her time leading the Justice Department. He said she would be “transitioning to a much-needed and important new job in the private sector.”

Despite the warm public language, multiple news outlets reported that Bondi had been fired. CNN, NBC News, CBS News, and Reuters each cited sources confirming that the departure was not voluntary. Bondi is the second Cabinet member Trump has removed in recent weeks, following the ouster of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in early March.

Trump’s frustration with Bondi had been building on multiple fronts, according to reporting from CNN, NBC News, and CBS News.

The most persistent source of tension was her handling of the Epstein files. In February 2025, shortly after taking office, Bondi said in a Fox News interview that an Epstein client list was “sitting on my desk right now to review.” The Justice Department later stated that no such list existed, and Bondi subsequently clarified that she had been referring to the broader body of documents related to the Epstein investigation, not a specific client list.

The episode fueled criticism from both the left and the right and created a political liability that never fully dissipated. Reuters reported that a bipartisan law was eventually passed in November 2025, requiring the Justice Department to release nearly all of its Epstein-related files. The release of roughly 3 million pages of records did not resolve the controversy, as lawmakers from both parties objected to redactions and to the disclosure of certain victims’ identities.

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena Bondi to testify under oath about the matter. She was scheduled to appear on April 14, CBS News and Reuters reported.

The second major source of frustration was what Trump viewed as the Justice Department’s failure to successfully prosecute his political opponents.

The department had secured indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, but both cases were thrown out by a federal judge who ruled that the prosecutor who brought the charges had been unlawfully appointed, CBS News reported.

Investigations into Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell, and Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook had not produced charges. A federal judge quashed subpoenas related to a probe of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, and a grand jury unanimously rejected criminal charges against a group of Democratic lawmakers who posted a video urging military members to refuse unlawful orders, according to CBS News.

NBC News reported that in September 2025, Trump inadvertently posted what appeared to be a private message to Bondi on Truth Social, urging her to prosecute several of his most prominent critics by name — including James, Comey, and Schiff. Indictments of Comey and James followed weeks later but were subsequently dismissed.

The firing followed several days of private deliberations. CNN reported that Trump spoke directly with Bondi on Wednesday about the possibility of her removal, describing the conversation as “tough.” Sources told CNN that Bondi was initially told she might be offered a different government position, possibly a judgeship, but Trump’s public statement indicated she would be leaving government entirely.

Bondi was informed of her dismissal before Trump’s Wednesday address on the Iran conflict and had already departed for Florida, according to Fox News Digital and Newsweek.

In the days leading up to the firing, Bondi had taken steps that some inside the department interpreted as an effort to demonstrate continued loyalty to the president’s priorities. CNN reported that she summoned the lead prosecutor in a Miami-based investigation into whether former CIA Director John Brennan made false statements to Congress — a case career prosecutors have privately described as weak — to Washington on Wednesday to discuss the probe’s progress.

Bondi had also increased her physical proximity to the president in recent weeks, joining him at the Supreme Court on Wednesday for oral arguments in the birthright citizenship case and attending his prime-time address on the Iran war. NBC News noted that this was the opposite approach taken by officials in Trump’s first term, who tended to reduce their time around the president when they sensed his dissatisfaction growing.

Blanche, who now leads the department on an interim basis, issued a statement praising Bondi and pledging continuity. He said he was grateful for the president’s trust and that the department would “continue backing the blue, enforcing the law, and doing everything in our power to keep America safe,” NBC News reported.

Blanche’s ascent reflects his close personal relationship with Trump. Before joining the Justice Department, he served as one of Trump’s criminal defense attorneys during his various prosecutions. CBS News reported that some of Bondi’s allies within the department believed that Blanche himself had not pushed the politically sensitive investigations aggressively enough, partly out of concern about the political fallout and his own post-government career prospects.

Multiple outlets reported that Trump is considering Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin as Bondi’s permanent replacement. CNN reported that the idea of installing Zeldin at the Justice Department first surfaced in January but faded as the Epstein controversy temporarily receded from the news cycle. It resurfaced in the West Wing on Monday, and CBS News reported that Trump met with Zeldin at the White House on Tuesday.

Zeldin, a former Republican congressman from New York who lost the 2022 gubernatorial race to Democrat Kathy Hochul, has remained a close Trump ally. Other candidates are also reportedly under consideration, but Zeldin has been mentioned most frequently, CNN reported.

Bondi’s 14 months at the helm of the Justice Department produced sweeping structural changes that will outlast her tenure. CBS News reported that the department experienced a mass exodus of thousands of federal lawyers who resigned, accepted buyouts, or were fired. Most of them were career employees who had worked on cases or issues disfavored by Trump and his allies.

NBC News reported that Bondi oversaw the removal of prosecutors and FBI agents who had been involved in the criminal investigations of Trump related to his retention of classified documents and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. The department’s Civil Rights Division was significantly reduced under her leadership.

Her confirmation on February 4, 2025, by a 54–46 Senate vote came after Trump’s original nominee, former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, withdrew from consideration.