US Attorney-General Pam Bondi has been fired by Donald Trump, the US president has confirmed.
Mr Trump said on Truth Social that Ms Bondi was leaving government and “transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector”.
Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche will step in to serve as acting attorney-general, he added.
According to US media, the president had grown increasingly frustrated with Ms Bondi’s performance, especially over her handling of investigative files related to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“Pam Bondi is a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my Attorney General over the past year,” Mr Trump wrote in a post.
“Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown in Crime across our Country, with Murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900.
Truth Social
“We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future.”
Ms Bondi has been accused of covering up or mismanaging the release of records on the Department of Justice’s sex trafficking investigations into Epstein, a financier who cultivated ties with an array of wealthy and powerful figures.
During a combative hearing before a House of Representatives panel in January, Ms Bondi responded to criticism with political attacks directed at lawmakers.
She refused to apologise or look at Epstein survivors and their relatives who attended the proceedings.
The former Florida attorney-general came into office last year pledging that she would not play politics with the Justice Department but ultimately she upended the Justice Department’s culture of independence from the White House.
She quickly started investigations of Trump foes, sparked an outcry that the law enforcement agency was being wielded as a tool of revenge to advance the president’s political and personal agenda.
Yet Mr Trump had reportedly grown annoyed that Ms Bondi was not moving quickly enough to prosecute critics and adversaries who he wanted to face criminal charges.
Under Ms Bondi’s leadership, the department opened investigations into a string of Trump foes, including Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, New York Attorney General Letitia James, former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan.
But multiple investigations were rejected by judges or grand juries.
She is the second senior Trump official to be ousted recently.
Mr Trump removed Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem in early March following criticism of her management of the agency and Mr Trump’s immigration agenda.
Ms Bondi was due to testify over Epstein files
Ms Bondi was just weeks away from testifying over the Epstein files after the Republican-led House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena her.
Ms Bondi early last year said a client list was on her desk for review but then the initial release of files included material that had largely already been public.
The Department of Justice and FBI declared months later that the case was closed and that no further disclosures were warranted.
That move prompted an eruption of criticism and eventually a bipartisan law passed in November requiring the department to release nearly all of its files.
The release of roughly three million pages of records did not quell the controversy, as lawmakers criticised redactions in the files and the disclosure of the identities of some Epstein survivors.
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