US election 2024 current: Trump nominates Pam Bondi as Minister of Justice

US President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Pam Bondi as the new US Attorney General. “Pam will return the Justice Department to its core purpose of fighting crime and making America safe again. “I have known Pam for many years – she is smart and tough, a fighter for AMERICA FIRST who will do a great job as Attorney General!” Trump said in a statement on his Truth Social platform.

The former Florida attorney general is Trump’s second choice after his initial nominee, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, declined the post on the same day. There were allegations of sexual misconduct and illegal drug use against Gaetz. Accordingly, it was recently unclear whether he would have received the necessary votes in the Senate.

Trump has vowed to reform the Justice Department, an agency he has criticized for the two federal indictments brought by special counsel Jack Smith against the president-elect for attempting to overturn the 2020 election and illegally storing classified documents. If confirmed, Bondi would lead an agency that is at the center of many of Trump’s key policy initiatives, including his plans to strengthen immigration controls and border security. The cabinet position of Attorney General in the USA does not exactly correspond to that of the German Minister of Justice. While he shares certain law enforcement tasks with the Federal Prosecutor General, in the USA these are combined in one office.