President Donald Trump has reportedly discussed firing Attorney General Pam Bondi and replacing her with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Lee Zeldin, according to several sources familiar with the ongoing White House discussions.
According to one source, President Trump has grown frustrated with the Justice Department’s (DOJ) handling of the release of the Epstein files, which has become a political liability among his supporters.
The House Oversight Committee recently subpoenaed Bondi to testify about the DOJ’s probe into Jeffrey Epstein.
Bondi’s deposition in front of the House Oversight Committee is scheduled for Apr. 14. In February, she testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee, in which she refused to answer questions regarding the Epstein probe.
The president has reportedly complained about Bondi’s inability to successfully prosecute those he deems as his political opponents, in what he labels as the department’s lack of aggressiveness towards his foes. President Trump has also reportedly pointed out Bondi’s shortcomings as a communicator, another source told The New York Times (NYT).
According to the NYT, President Trump has not reached a final decision, and allies of Bondi have disputed the notion that the president is planning to replace her by pointing to her appearance alongside President Trump at the Supreme Court recently as he attended the high court’s arguments on birthright citizenship.
In addition, the NYT, which first reported the news, and CNN, shared a statement by President Trump in which he voices his support for Bondi.
“Attorney General Pam Bondi is a wonderful person, and she is doing a good job,” the president stated.
“The idea of replacing Bondi with Zeldin first arose in January, then subsided as Epstein coverage slipped from the news cycle,” sources who spoke with CNN said.
The news comes after President Trump fired Kristi Noem from her role as the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, replacing her with Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin.
