On the heels of the 2024 election, Donald Trump tapped Matt Gaetz to serve as his Attorney General. In the days that followed, his path to confirmation quickly narrowed as allegations of sex trafficking, sex parties, and sex with minors came to the surface. When Gaetz withdrew his name, it was Pam Bondi, the former Attorney General of Florida, that Trump turned to next.
Upon her confirmation, she began overseeing a circus of attempts to address the President’s campaign promise for transparency and accountability while evading and misdirecting from it all the same — orchestrating the binder stunt, botching the file redactions, and bringing a ‘burn book’ to Congress.
She was among the President’s loudest defenders. Then she was out of a job.
Developed through the research and reporting of Katie Chenoweth, Nina Burleigh, and Camaron Stevenson this timeline pieces together the rise and fall of Pam Bondi as the second Trump Administration’s Attorney General.
Bondi solicits a $25,000 donation from the Trump Foundation for her re-election PAC.
Afterward, the Trump University fraud inquiry is quietly dropped.
This establishes the relationship before Trump became president.
Fast forward a few years. Out of elected office, Bondi got serious about money — a $115,000-a-month lobbyist at the DC influence giant Ballard Partners. Her client list included private-prison corporations and the government of Qatar, for whom she was registered under the Foreign Agent Registration Act for “combating human trafficking.” When Trump nominated her for attorney general in early 2025, she didn’t bother mentioning those clients in her conflict-of-interest disclosure.
Trump's second inauguration
DOJ orders SDNY to ship every scrap of Epstein evidence to Washington.
Shortly after the inauguration, the Justice Department directs the Southern District of New York — which has an active investigation underway — to transfer all Epstein-related evidence to DC. Rep. Jamie Raskin would later state that neither the survivors nor the SDNY prosecutors knew the purpose of the transfer was to terminate the case. The same month, the Senate Judiciary Committee advances Bondi’s nomination without asking a single question about the files.
Confirmed, 54–46.
The Senate confirms Bondi as attorney general. Every Republican and a single Democrat — Fetterman of Pennsylvania — vote in favor.
House Oversight chair James Comer and Task Force chair Anna Paulina Luna send Bondi a letter requesting an ASAP briefing on documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case.
“Sitting on my desk right now to review.”
On Fox, Bondi famously announces that the Epstein “client list” is on her desk awaiting review — part of a directive, she says, from President Trump himself.
The “Phase 1” binder stunt collapses on the White House lawn.
Bondi invites a pack of MAGA influencers — including Laura Loomer — to the White House and hands out binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1.” They pose for a photo op believing they hold declassified material; none of it was ever classified, and much was already public. Worse, botched redactions push dozens of victims’ names — but not their abusers’ — into the record. Bondi pivots to blaming the New York prosecutors and demands Kash Patel deliver the “full and complete” files by 8 AM the next morning.
The Binder Stunt
Source: COURIER
James Dennehy, head of the FBI’s New York field office, is fired.
A “truckload” of evidence — and 24-hour redaction shifts.
Bondi tells Sean Hannity the DOJ received “a truckload” of evidence; staff begin processing 100,000 pages in Winchester, Va. When the job runs long, Bondi reportedly pressures the FBI to staff up. A whistleblower later says crime-fighters were put on round-the-clock redaction shifts — with instructions to watch for Trump’s name.
Bondi reportedly tells Trump his name appears in the files.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Bondi delivers the news during a briefing.
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Elon Musk claims the files haven’t been released because Trump is in them: “Time to drop the really big bomb.” House Democrats immediately demand Bondi and Patel say whether it’s true.
A weekend of mysterious, panicked scrambling unfolds between Main Justice and the FBI’s New York office to get additional copies of Epstein file photos to Todd Blanche’s office.
The unsigned memo: nothing to see here.
DOJ and FBI release an unsigned joint memo stating their “exhaustive review” found no co-conspirators and warranted no further disclosure. Bondi never releases any of the materials behind that review.
Trump calls the files a “Democrat hoax” on Truth Social and again from the Oval Office. The same day, Maurene Comey — lead prosecutor in the New York Epstein investigation — is fired.
The “birthday book” lands.
The Wall Street Journal publishes the first of its “birthday book” stories — a lewd drawing Trump allegedly gave Epstein. Trump denies it’s real, files a $10 billion suit later tossed by a judge, and — as a distraction — orders DOJ to seek release of Epstein grand-jury materials. A day later, Bondi and Blanche ask the court to release the transcripts.
Bondi posts a statement from Blanche saying she directed him to contact Ghislaine Maxwell’s attorneys. Two days later, Blanche meets Maxwell in Tallahassee — while Speaker Mike Johnson shuts down House business for the rest of the summer to head off a transparency vote.
The Bureau of Prisons, an agency under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice, transfers Maxwell to a low-security prison, against BOP guidelines for convicted sex offenders.
Bondi appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee — flummoxed by questions about photos of Trump in Epstein’s safe, and deflecting on DOJ’s failure to probe Epstein’s finances by blaming Democratic administrations.
Ungaro was deported to Brazil, after her ex, Paolo Zampolli made a call that apparently resulted in ICE detaining and then deporting her. Zampolli and Ungaro have been engaged in an ongoing child custody battle. The child is currently staying in New York with Zampolli.
This display of abusive power was first reported by Day and eventually by the New York Times. Zampolli told the Times he didn’t direct the deportation, but contacted the agency because he was “curious.”
At Trump’s behest, Bondi asks New York US Attorney Jay Clayton to “take the lead” investigating Epstein’s ties specifically to Democrats — Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, and others.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act becomes law
The first House Oversight release, with release waves running
Bondi tweets that DOJ will charge “anyone involved in the trafficking and exploitation of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims,” claiming she’s already met with “many victims.”
Victims have repeatedly said Bondi never spoke to any of them, and the DOJ has so far prosecuted no one other than Ghislaine Maxwell.
Cornered, prickly, occasionally unhinged.
Bondi testifies before the House Oversight Committee — refusing to acknowledge a group of Epstein victims in the audience. The spectacle likely ended her run in the Trump cabinet reality show.
The Daily Beast’s Joanna Coles wrote that the hearings were political theater staged for an audience of one — and that Bondi’s sneering turned her into “the Angry Woman… not something her boss would order from Central Casting.”
— Joanna Coles, The Daily Beast
Nina Burleigh and Katie Chenoweth report three missing FBI interviews tied to a sexual-assault allegation against Trump — the accuser’s redacted name flagged with the unusual label “protect source.” NPR picks it up; after two weeks of denials, DOJ finally acknowledges the interviews.
On March 17, Lee introduced articles of impeachment against US Attorney Pam Bondi, that outline several alleged offenses, including defiance of the Oversight’s Committee’s subpoena to release the full, unredacted Epstein files, defiance of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, abuse of investigatory and prosecutorial authority, defiance of federal court orders, and perjury in congressional testimony.
“The Attorney General of the United States is entrusted with one of the most solemn responsibilities in our democracy: to enforce the law fairly, impartially, and without political influence. Instead, Pam Bondi is breaking the law to protect pedophiles and prosecute Trump’s political opponents…This is about accountability, transparency, and justice. We deserve a justice system that serves the people, not one that is weaponized for political gain.”
Trump fires Bondi over her handling of the files.
There’s a difference between brazen disregard for the law in quiet practice and full-frontal rudeness to the legislative branch. Her replacement, Acting AG Blanche, understands it. He immediately announces there will be no more Epstein file releases.
Bondi fails to appear before the House
In the wake of her dismissal as U.S. Attorney General Bondi defied a House Oversight Committee subpoena, arguing that her testimony was no longer needed since she had been fired by President Trump. When Bondi failed to appear before Congress on April 14, House Democrats filed contempt charges against her.
“We think [Bondi’s] been involved in a massive cover up and we need to hold her accountable… We can get justice for the survivors. We can take on Trump’s corruption. We can take on his family. And I think that’s what we’ve continuously shown. We can’t allow them to continue to break the rules and break the law, and we’ve got to hold them accountable.”
– Ranking Member Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), COURIER
How the DOJ represented her
Bondi appeared before the House Oversight Committee for a closed-door, unsworn interview. Her public opening statement blamed Todd Blanche for the DOJ’s botched rollout of the files. Per members present, DOJ lawyers acted as her personal counsel and repeatedly blocked questions — particularly about her interactions with Trump-administration officials and the president himself.
Nina Burleigh and Katie Chenoweth originally published a timeline of Pam Bondi as the U.S. Attorney General in “Pam Bondi’s Swan Song.”