Per the New York Times, as reported on Megyn Kelly’s show, Donald Trump was considering firing Attorney General Pam Bondi. [1] Sean Davis, a co-panelist on the same episode alongside John Kiriakou, said Trump chose Bondi specifically because he wanted someone “loyal above all,” after his disappointment in predecessor Bill Barr’s failure to deliver “Russiagate accountability.”[2]
Davis described Pam Bondi’s handling of the Epstein files as a farce. [3] Sohrab Ahmari, the other panelist, said her actions in the Epstein scandal were seen as missteps that eroded key demographics for Trump. [4] Davis also cited the firing of DOJ antitrust chief Gail Slater, whose office was sidestepped on a settlement reached “over cocktails,” as an example of Bondi not having “done right by her.”[5]
On the same show, the panel also discussed that Pam Bondi was involved in the Epstein scandal, with a DOJ two-page memo and her testimony before Congress cited as notable aspects of the case. [6]
Megyn Kelly reported, citing a Daily Mail story her team pulled up live, that Pam Bondi pleaded with Trump not to fire her during a dramatic White House showdown. [7] Ahmari speculated that, after her dismissal, Pam Bondi might become a press source and secure a book deal, providing insight into the Trump administration. [8]
John Kiriakou, asked by Kelly during his own segment about Bondi’s departure, said he had “always heard the loveliest things about Pam Bondi,” that she was loyal to the president and never really wanted to be Attorney General, and that she was reportedly unhappy in the job and was likely pushed out after a year. [9]
Kiriakou added that the Department of Justice had too many cases and too few staff, making it a challenging work environment, and that “they’re all miserable over there… for good reason.” [10]
Kelly, reading a Trump statement live on air during the same interview, reported that Bondi was removed as Attorney General and praised by the president as “a great American patriot” who had overseen a significant crackdown on crime during her tenure. [11]
In a separate interview, Kiriakou suggested one effect of the Iran war may be to distract the public from demanding that Bondi release the remaining 2.7 to 3 million pages of Epstein-related documents still withheld by the Department of Justice.[12]
The referral that went nowhere
When Kiriakou pitched his pardon to Donald Trump in person at Mar-a-Lago, the president’s answer was a referral: “Well, talk to Pam Bondi… Pam Bondi will get the process going.” Trump repeated the instruction later the same day on a telephone call, saying he had told them to talk to Bondi and that “they know what to do.”[13][14]
Kiriakou’s account of what followed is brief: “Pam Bondi did literally nothing for for me, and it turns out her brother was selling pardons, and it was a big deal.”[15]