Trump’s attorney general pick must navigate lobbying background
Pam Bondi, Donald Trump’s pick to be the next attorney general, worked for years at a lobbying firm where her clients included corporate giants such as Amazon, Uber and General Motors.
Now, if confirmed, the former Florida attorney general would oversee a Justice Department charged with making sure big businesses follow the rules, an area that can touch on everything from employment discrimination to corporate fraud.
None of her past work should disqualify her from taking the attorney general role, lobbying experts say, but she will likely have to carefully navigate a slew of potential conflicts of interests.
Some of Bondi’s past clients have been the subject of Justice Department scrutiny in recent years. And questions about conflict of interests could also arise from the clients of Ballard Partners, the lobbying firm Bondi joined that has represented companies such as TikTok, Comcast Corp. and Walgreen Co.
“As attorney general, she would want to avoid even the perception of a conflict of interest, because otherwise the public will not feel that they can trust that office,” said Beth Leech, a professor at Rutgers University who is an expert on interest groups and lobbying in American politics.
Meanwhile, critics say Bondi’s years as a lobbyist — and her ties to big companies — raise concerns that she will go soft on corporate enforcement compared to the Biden administration or focus DOJ resources on other enforcement areas.
Jeff Hauser, the executive director of the progressive watchdog group Revolving Door Project, said the Justice Department touches “every sort of implementation of limits on corporate power across the U.S. code.”
“I am very worried about her ability to make an unbiased decision about priorities with respect to corporate misconduct,” Hauser said.
Trump’s selection of Bondi for attorney general has received widespread praise from Senate Republicans, including from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The panel has scheduled a two-day confirmation hearing for Bondi starting Wednesday.
The Justice Department is often known for its work prosecuting violent criminals, targeting drug cartels or uncovering political corruption. But the sprawling organization also can pursue civil actions against businesses, such as suing over antitrust violations or ensuring compliance with federal laws.
The department’s criminal division also makes decisions on whether to pursue allegations of white-collar criminal activity, Hauser said, and the FBI holds key resources when it comes to investigating allegations of sophisticated corporate crime.
An attorney general can allocate investigative resources and set investigative priorities for the department, Hauser said.
“If the priorities all become immigration law instead of corporate misconduct, corporate America will benefit while there’s a crackdown on migrants,” Hauser said.
Past lobbying
Bondi has lobbied in the past for a range of major businesses, such as Amazon, Uber, General Motors, Fidelity National Financial, Carnival North America and Major League Baseball, according to lobbying disclosures.
She’s also lobbied for law enforcement-related organizations like the Florida Sheriffs Association and Major County Sheriffs of America, according to the disclosures. She briefly lobbied in 2019 for the GEO Group, a private prison company that contracts with the federal government and calls itself the largest service provider to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Last month, GEO Group announced a $70 million investment to expand detention capacity, transportation and electronic monitoring services to ICE. A lobbying disclosure form from 2019, which lists Bondi, states that GEO sought to promote private-public prison partnerships but noted the company does not “take a position on immigration enforcement policies or detention policies.”
Such public filings only give so much insight into her work as a lobbyist, said James Thurber, professor emeritus at American University and an expert on lobbying.
With limits of the publicly available lobbying disclosures, it’s unclear how much contact she had with government officials and which officials she was in contact with, leaving a blurred view of what she was specifically lobbying on, Thurber said.
Bondi is also a lobbyist — registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act — on behalf of the government of the Dominican Republic, the Embassy of the State of Qatar, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Zimbabwe, and the Republic of Kosovo, according to a questionnaire submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Sen. Richard J. Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate panel, sent a letter last week to the Justice Department requesting registration statements and other information, saying Bondi did not list those clients as potential conflicts of interest on her questionnaire.
“In the event of a potential conflict of interest, [l] will consult with the appropriate Department of Justice ethics officials and act consistent with governing regulations,” Bondi’s questionnaire states.
Some of Bondi’s corporate lobbying appears to have been several years old, including her lobbying for Amazon and for the GEO Group, according to the disclosures.
With limits of the publicly available lobbying disclosures, it’s unclear how much contact she had with government officials and which officials she was in contact with, leaving a blurred view of what she was specifically lobbying on, Thurber said.
Bondi is also a lobbyist — registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act — on behalf of the government of the Dominican Republic, the Embassy of the State of Qatar, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Zimbabwe, and the Republic of Kosovo, according to a questionnaire submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Sen. Richard J. Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate panel, sent a letter last week to the Justice Department requesting registration statements and other information, saying Bondi did not list those clients as potential conflicts of interest on her questionnaire.
“In the event of a potential conflict of interest, [l] will consult with the appropriate Department of Justice ethics officials and act consistent with governing regulations,” Bondi’s questionnaire states.
Some of Bondi’s corporate lobbying appears to have been several years old, including her lobbying for Amazon and for the GEO Group, according to the disclosures.
That time removed is meaningful when it comes to determining whether she should recuse in specific situations, said Virginia Canter, chief anticorruption counsel at the State Democracy Defenders Fund who also served as associate counsel to the president during the Obama and Clinton administrations.
“If she had not been lobbying for Amazon or Uber within the last two years, they would not be subject to the same level of review or concern that a more recent lobbying engagement would,” Canter said.
Bondi would not be the only attorney general with a lobbying past. Eric Holder, who served as attorney general under former President Barack Obama, was once a registered lobbyist before being nominated for the role.
Praveen Fernandes, vice president at the progressive Constitutional Accountability Center, said Bondi’s past work as a lobbyist is one more reason for the Senate to take the vetting and confirmation process seriously.
It’s also an opportunity for lawmakers to get assurances that Bondi would take the proper steps to recuse herself from decisions that affect the companies that she lobbied for, Fernandes said.
Brian Ballard, president of the firm Bondi joined after serving in the state attorney general role, said he had no doubt Bondi would “bend over backwards” to not only steer clear of conflicts, but the perceptions of a conflict.
“Pam is one of the most ethical and discerning people I’ve met in my professional life,” Ballard said.
Ballard said it’s his belief that Bondi would recuse herself from anything she personally worked on at the firm, but indicated there should be a different approach for matters in which the firm’s clients are involved, given the scope of the firm’s clients.
“She will handle things appropriately, and I think there is a reasonableness standard that needs to come to bear,” he said. “I feel very certain she’ll find that right balance.”
Company scrutiny
Critics of Bondi’s nomination say her connection to big corporations are concerning particularly because some have been the subject of Justice Department attention.
Amazon agreed to a $25 million penalty as part of a settlement tied to allegations it violated, among other measures, a federal law that outlines privacy protections for children online, the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission announced in 2023.
The Justice Department in 2022 filed a multimillion-dollar settlement with Uber to resolve a lawsuit that accused the ride-sharing company of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.
And last year, the Justice Department rolled out a settlement with General Motors to resolve a department conclusion that the company discriminated against non-U.S. citizens.
Lisa Gilbert, co-president at Public Citizen, said in a statement that the “ability of the Attorney General to represent the interests of the American public must not be compromised.”
“We depend on the DOJ to vigorously enforce our laws, hold corporate wrongdoers accountable, and protect the rule of law,” she said in a statement. “Pam Bondi is simply inappropriate for this post.”
The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment.