Pamela Jo Bondi, popularly known as Pam Bondi, is an American attorney, lobbyist and politician. A member of the Republican Party, she served as Florida attorney general from 2011 to 2019, the first woman elected to the office. In 2020, Bondi was one of long-time ally President Donald Trump’s defence lawyers during his first impeachment trial.

On Thursday, the President-elect of the United States of America, Donald Trump nominated Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, to be the next US attorney general, hours after his first pick, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social, “For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans – Not anymore. Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again. I have known Pam for many years — She is smart and tough, and is an AMERICA FIRST Fighter, who will do a terrific job as Attorney General!”

While withdrawing his name from the position of the US attorney general, Gaetz said, “While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.” He added, “There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General.” In a post on social media Gaetz indicated that he would continue to fight for the country but from a different position.

Pam Bondi’s nomination comes after Gaetz withdrew his name due to an ongoing federal sex trafficking investigation against him.

Who is Pam Bondi?

Pam Bondi, hailing from Tampa, is a long-time Donald Trump ally. She was Florida’s first female attorney general and has 18 years of experience as a prosecutor and was one of Trump’s lawyers during his first impeachment trial when he was accused trying to negotiate US military aid to Ukraine based on them investigating former president Joe Biden, who was vice president at the time. She has also chaired the America First Policy Institute, a think tank established by former Trump administration staffers.

Pam Bondi earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Florida in 1987, where she was also a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority. She went on to obtain her Juris Doctor from Stetson University College of Law in 1990 and was admitted to the Florida Bar on June 24, 1991.

Marriage to Garret Barnes

As much as her professional career has earned her accolades, Pam Bondi’s personal life hasn’t been spared from the limelight.

Pam Bondi married Garret Barnes in 1990 at the young age of 24. However, the marriage wasn’t a lasting one and that ended after 22 months, in 1992.

Marriage to Scott Fitzgerald

After almost four years, Pam tied the knot again with Scott Fitzgerald in 1996. However, that marriage did not last long too. Pam and Scott got divorced after almost 6 years of marital life, in 2002.

Relationship with Greg Henderson

Almost 10 years later, in 2012, Bondi got engaged to ophthalmologist Greg Henderson.

That same year, photos of Bondi and Henderson at a luxury Caribbean resort surfaced on the internet, showing Bondi in a white dress; that sparked the rumours of Bondi’s third marriage. However, Bondi later clarified that no wedding ceremony took place at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman.

Pam added that the cancellation of their destination wedding was not related to any issues in their relationship. She clarified that she intended to marry Henderson in an intimate ceremony at a Tampa-area Baptist church and maintained that she hadn’t dreamt that she would be subjected to such a ‘contrived fabrication’ during a joyous time in her life.

However, she never explained why they called off the wedding in the Caribbean at last minute.

In 2015, the separation rumour of Bondi and Henderson surfaced and reports suggested that the couple had parted ways. However, Bondi hasn’t clarified about that marital status till date.

On the other hand, Greg Henderson, a widower whose first wife Kathy died in 2002, has four children, named Kristen, Greg Jr., David, and Matt.