Trump’s AG Pam Bondi had a fairly quiet first day on the job besides going after FBI agents who investigated Trump. She has quietly killed departments and committees dealing with corruption, foreign influence on our elections, the department that confiscated bank accounts and superyachts from Russian oligarchs, and one that is definitely going to be terrible for democracy.
Full transparency: I wrote this right after her first day, but forgot to publish it! So no, I’m not behind on what’s happening, just forgetful. 😳
American corporations and lobby groups bribe politicians to get what they want. Now the law preventing foreign agents from bribing politicians is gone. Big business isn’t happy about having to compete against foreign entities’ bribes.
On Pam Bondi’s busy first day in office, she went right to work by ordering the department to set up a task force to examine the “weaponization” of the Justice Department and rein in investigations into foreign influence. She also warned career lawyers at her agency not to try to thwart Trump administration policies. Doesn’t sound very independent so far, does it?
Bondi on Weaponization
Bondi ordered the weaponization group to start by investigating Jack Smith, the special counsel involved in 2 cases against Trump: the classified documents case and the January 6th case. Neither of which made it to trial before Trump became President again. So who cares, Pam?
She directed the group to examine “federal cooperation with the weaponization” by the offices of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Bragg’s office brought the criminal hush money case against Trump that ended in his conviction on 34 felony counts of business fraud. James brought a civil fraud lawsuit against Trump and his family business that resulted in a judge ordering Trump to pay a massive civil judgment.
The group in charge of investigating weaponization of the DOJ seems to be… weaponized.. doesn’t it?
October 7 task force
From reporting by Politico: Bondi signaled a renewed focus on Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people including 47 Americans and involved the taking of more than 200 hostages, including eight U.S. citizens. She directed the creation of a “10-7” task force aimed at “seeking justice for victims of the attack and addressing the ongoing threat posed by Hamas and its affiliates, both domestically and abroad.”
In addition to pursuing criminal charges against those involved in the attack, the task force will investigate and prosecute “acts of terrorism, antisemitic civil rights violations, and other federal crimes committed by Hamas supporters in the United States, including on college campuses.” Trump has repeatedly vowed to deport foreign students who are backers of Hamas.
TIME OUT: The media conflated college students protesting for a ceasefire, an end to the slaughter of Palestinians, and peace as being “supporters of Hamas” or “Anti-Israel protesters” and it used to drive me crazy! I know there’s a small group that views what Hamas did as a way of fighting back from inside the open-air prison Palestinians live in, but the majority of people protesting the slaughter of Palestinians have no love for Hamas.
I’m guessing the 10-7 task force directive was handed down to Trump from either Benjamin Netanyahu, or more likely, from Miriam Adelson.
She also directed all terrorism task forces to shift their focus to helping with immigration. At a time when the President of the United States just announced plans to steal land, ethnically cleanse the 2 million people living there, and build a “Riviera of the Middle East,” I would guess that the terrorism threat level is fairy high. What a perfect time to tell the group with the job of investigating terrorism to stop and help ICE and Kristi Noem instead.
Bondi on DEI
From Politico:
Pam Bondi said the Justice Department “must thoroughly evaluate consent decrees, settlement agreements, litigation positions (including those set forth in amicus briefs), grants or similar funding mechanisms, procurements, internal policies and guidance, and contracting arrangements.”
“There is no place in these materials for race- or sex-based preferences, diversity hiring targets, or preferential treatment based on DEI- or DEIA-related criteria,” she wrote.
Bondi also ordered Justice Department entities to submit reports by March 15 confirming the elimination of DEI and “environmental justice” programs, as well as identifying any federal contractors who have provided DEI training or materials to any department employees since Trump took office.
Sanctuary Cities
She ordered the department to “pause the distribution of all funds until a review has been completed” of grants or other money flowing to those jurisdictions.
A similar move by Attorney General Jeff Sessions in Trump’s first term led to lawsuits from localities that said the Justice Department lacked the authority to cut off funding. Courts reached mixed verdicts, with a federal appeals court in Chicago ruling that the Trump administration appeared to have usurped Congress’ authority to restrict grants and an appeals court in New York finding DOJ’s policy met legal muster.
Bondi also ordered a 60-day pause in all DOJ grants or contracts to organizations that “provide services to illegal or removable aliens.”
Secret Stuff
Trump’s AG also did things “secretly” as well.
From a report by NBC News:
In a little-noticed directive on her first day in office, Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered a halt to a years-old federal law enforcement effort to combat secret influence campaigns by China, Russia and other adversaries that try to curry favor and sow chaos in American politics.
Buried on the fourth page of one of 14 policy memos Bondi issued Wednesday, the order disbands the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force and pares back enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, despite years of warnings by U.S. intelligence agencies that foreign malign influence operations involving disinformation were a growing and dangerous threat.
“To free resources to address more pressing priorities, and end risks of further weaponization and abuses of prosecutorial discretion, the Foreign Influence Task Force shall be disbanded,” the order states.
Foreign Agents and Russian oligarchs
It also states that criminal charges for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires people to register when lobbying on behalf of a foreign nation, “shall be limited to instances of alleged conduct similar to more traditional espionage by foreign government actors.” The order adds that DOJ prosecutors instead “shall focus on civil enforcement, regulatory initiatives, and public guidance.”
A separate Bondi directive also disbanded efforts to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs, including Task Force Klepto Capture and the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.
The order said the personnel working on those projects will be reassigned to target drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations. Forfeiture cases already underway will continue to be pursued, officials said.
Three squads of around 50 FBI agents and support personnel for the foreign influence task force are now looking for other assignments, an FBI official with knowledge of the matter told NBC News.
Believe it or not, there’s more, but those are the biggest—and in my opinion, the most overtly corrupt—changes she made on her first day at the DOJ.
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