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Now That White House Has Finally Booted Noem, Will Bondi Be Next?

Now That White House Has Finally Booted Noem, Will Bondi Be Next?

President Donald Trump fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday — and, according to a prominent columnist, Attorney General Pam Bondi ought to be next.

“Back in Trump 1.0, Noem’s firing would have been just another Thursday,” wrote The Guardian’s Arwa Mahdawi on Saturday, pointing out that Trump frequently fired advisers and cabinet secretaries during that administration. Yet Mahdawi argued Noem’s firing may indicate a reversal of that trend, given that there is “currently a target on attorney general Pam Bondi’s back.” Five House Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues on Wednesday to subpoena Bondi to learn more about her controversial handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. One day later, Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI) filed articles of impeachment against Bondi.

“While the Bondi subpoena is unlikely to result in justice for Epstein’s victims anytime soon, it is nevertheless a welcome development,” Mahdawi wrote. “Unlike her televised testimony before the House judiciary committee in February, this will be a closed-door hearing where she will be under oath and subject to perjury laws. This means she may be forced to answer questions more directly instead of just talking about the stock market.” The columnist added that forcing Bondi to testify keeps the Epstein files in the news despite the president’s attempts at distraction.

Mahdawi also drew attention to the contents of recently-released Epstein files that the Justice Department had previously withheld involving a woman making sexual assault accusations against Trump.

“These accusations have not been verified and the Guardian reported last week that some of the claims appear to contradict what is known about Epstein’s life in the early 1980s,” Mahdawi reported. “Nevertheless, there are a lot of questions currently being asked as to what other documents the justice department may have ‘accidentally’ not released. No doubt Bondi will soon be able to give us all some non-answers.”

When Bondi testified before the House regarding the Epstein files, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) asked Bondi to apologize to the survivors for how the incomplete way in which the Epstein files have been released up to this point.

"Attorney General Bondi, you apologized to the survivors in your opening statement for what they went through at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein. Will you turn to them now and apologize for what your Department of Justice has put them through with the absolutely unacceptable release of the Epstein files and their information?" Jayapal asked Bondi. She refused to reply, instead criticizing former Attorney General Merrick Garland.

"I will reclaim my time because I asked a specific question that I would like you to answer," Jayapal repeated. "Will you turn to the survivors? This is not about anybody who came before you. It's about you taking responsibility for your Department of Justice and the harm that it has done to the survivors who are standing right behind you and are waiting for you to turn to them and apologize for what your Department of Justice —"

Bondi also controversially deflected a question about the Epstein files by demanding that Trump receive credit for then-recent gains in the stock market. When Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) seemed to laugh at Bondi's evasion of the question, she said "I don't know why you're laughing, I hear you're a great stock trader.” Other Democrats could be heard shouting, "What does the stock market have to do with it?"

Bondi has also failed to successfully pursue Trump’s political enemies as the former president wanted. Conservative commentator Tim Miller wrote in The Bulwark earlier this week that “another big loss for the Trump Justice Department in their Keystone Cop efforts to go after their political foes. For all of you know, the awful fascist advances of this administration, the one thing that continues to bring us joy is just the utter incompetence and failure in their effort to weaponize the Justice Department to get revenge against their political foes.”

Miller then pointed out that both Trump and his attorney general, Pam Bondi, had promised to prosecute former President Joe Biden for using an autopen and stealing the 2020 presidential election (which he did not do).

“Remember all those? Has anybody gone to jail for any of those yet?” Miller asked. “Supposedly Joe Biden stole the election in 2020. It's interesting that some of the biggest proponents of that case — Donald Trump, [FBI Director] Kash Patel, Pam Bondi — haven't been able to find any of the ‘perpetrators.’ So nobody's in jail for that."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet



Trump Brings Back Spicer And Priebus In White House Roles

Trump Brings Back Spicer And Priebus In White House Roles

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

President Donald Trump has rehired his former chief of staff Reince Priebus and former press secretary Sean Spicer almost three years after both men unceremoniously departed the White House.

Priebus and Spicer will each join the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships, according to a White House announcement Tuesday. As a part of the commission, the pair will interview and recommend to their former boss national finalists for appointments.

Spicer, who resigned in July 2017 out of dissatisfaction with the hiring of Anthony Scaramucci as communications director, courted controversy for repeatedly telling lies on behalf the president. Among those were false claims that Trump’s inauguration had the biggest crowds in history, that the president would have won the popular vote in the 2016 if not for voter fraud, that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower and that Adolf Hitler had not used chemical weapons.

Spicer has become something of a pop culture fixture since his exit from the White House. He joined the reality competition show “Dancing With the Stars,” in which he and other famous contestants were paired with professional ballroom dancers as they competed for the mirror ball trophy, last year. He announced on Cameo that he would record Valentine’s Day messages for people who were willing to pay him $199 earlier this week.

Priebus, whose six-month tenure as chief of staff was the shortest in history for anyone who did not hold the position on an interim basis, was fired in July 2017. A number of reasons cited for his termination, including: Trump’s disappointment with Priebus’ stewardship of the campaign to repeal the Affordable Care Act and a belief that Priebus lacked the strength to run the White House.

Scaramucci also accused Priebus of being a leaker, telling Ryan Lizza of The New Yorker that “Reince is a f*cking paranoid schizophrenic — a paranoiac” and that “if you want to leak something — he’ll be asked to resign very shortly.”

Priebus joined the Navy after leaving the White House, going through a months-long application process before becoming an ensign and being sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence. Spicer attended Priebus’ swearing in ceremony and publicly congratulated his former colleague on Twitter at the time. Prior to his gigs at the White House and in the Navy, Priebus served as both chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party and the Republican National Committee.

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore