Even being an ultra-loyalist brown-noser wasn’t enough for attorney general Pam Bondi to keep her job as attorney general because Trump just fired her. She continued her sycophancy even after her ignominious ouster, saying that she will continue fighting for Trump in the private sector. This is understandable since she will be seeking a pardon for any and all transgressions committed by her.

So what caused her demise? After all, she threw a major tantrum at congressional hearings, insulted members of the oversight panel, rescinded prosecution of Trump allies, purged career attorneys who were deemed to be insufficiently cult-like, went after his foes, and praised Trump to the skies at every opportunity. All this would seem to be the kinds of things that would endear her to her narcissistic boss. Some of her appointees as US attorneys were thrown out by judges as being unqualified or not properly appointed but that kind of incompetence seems normal for this chaotic administration. Here is a timeline of her greatest hits during her time in office.

So what went wrong for her? It is not clear. The word being put out by the administration is that Trump had grown increasingly impatient in recent months with her handling of the Epstein documents, which she had bungled at the beginning and which have become a continuing liability to the White House.

During her 14 months as attorney general, Bondi presided over a major purging of career justice department staff, shifted focus away from criminal prosecutions toward immigration cases, and spearheaded the defense of Trump’s towering stack of executive orders as they faced legal challenges.

But she will be perhaps best remembered for complying with Trump’s public demand last year that federal prosecutors bring criminal charges against his personal enemies. Within three weeks, federal prosecutors had indicted James Comey, a former FBI director, and Letitia James, the New York attorney general.

Federal prosecutors during Bondi’s tenure also indicted John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, and tried unsuccessfully to convince a grand jury to bring criminal charges against six members of Congress after Trump publicly accused them of “seditious behavior”. The Department of Justice has continued to investigate other Trump foes.

Bondi is also known for her contradictory statements about the Epstein files, which helped drive the push for their release in the name of transparency.

I do to take that at face value. She seemed to be effectively stonewalling the release of the files. But what may have been problematic was the recent demand by Congress for her to testify under oath, which she refused to do, suggesting that something was likely to emerge that would be too much even for Trump to stomach.

Democrats say Bondi cannot escape a congressional subpoena scheduled for later this month over her handling of the files, and will be expected to be back in front of lawmakers.

“Pam Bondi and Donald Trump may think her firing gets her out of testifying to the oversight committee,” Robert Garcia, the ranking member of the House oversight committee, said in a statement after her firing. “They are wrong – and we look forward to hearing from her under oath.”

There are rumors that director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is also in trouble.

Trump polled advisers about replacing Tulsi Gabbard as intelligence chief
Exclusive: Pressure intensifies for Gabbard after president’s displeasure with Iran war testimony

Hugo Lowell in Washington
Thu 2 Apr 2026 06.00 EDT
Last modified on Thu 2 Apr 2026 15.04 EDT
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Donald Trump has privately asked cabinet members in recent weeks whether he should replace his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, venting frustration that she shielded a former deputy who undercut his rationale for war with Iran, according to two people briefed on the discussions.

It is not clear that Trump will actually fire Gabbard over the episode. Currently, there is no standout candidate to take the job, and advisers have cautioned that creating a high-profile vacancy before a successor is ready could cause unhelpful political distractions.

But Trump’s discussions mark an ominous development for Gabbard, given the president tends to poll his advisers when he starts to seriously consider whether a personnel change is necessary. The two people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

What I would really like to see is RFK Jr. being fired since he is a menace to public health and scientific and medical research. But he seems to be secure in his position. If a major disease outbreak occurs due to lowered vaccination rates, that might change, though even that is doubtful.