Dem
47
GOP
53
Donald Trump made Matt Gaetz his initial pick for attorney general because he wanted someone who would serve as his personal attack dog. Gaetz did not work out, but it's already clear that the President has found an alternative, in Pam Bondi, who will be as much a fawning lackey as Gaetz would have been, and as Trump v1.0 AG Bill Barr actually was.
To start, Bondi slipped this in during her first full day in office, such that reporters did not catch it until this week. She has ordered the FBI to disband its Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF) and to pare back enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. That entity, and that law, are meant to combat the efforts of Russia, China and other hostiles to interfere with American elections. And despite being a task force, the FITF has actually done pretty good work. Another directive, issued on the same day, brought an end to efforts to seize assets from Russian oligarchs.
Officially, Bondi made these changes to "free [FBI] resources to address more pressing priorities," but does anyone really believe that? We certainly don't. We have to conclude that Bondi (and Trump) have taken a long look at the situation, and concluded that Republicans benefit much more from foreign interference in elections than Democrats do. Making kissy-kissy with Russia and Vladimir Putin is presumably an added benefit.
Meanwhile, coming second chronologically, but probably first in terms of icky-ness, Bondi issued a memo late Wednesday night that instructs the DoJ to investigate and potentially prosecute illegal DEI/DEIA programs. It's not too hard to figure out the plan, since the title of the memo, in ALL CAPS, is "ENDING ILLEGAL DEI AND DEIA DISCRIMINATION AND PREFERENCES." Increasing the icky factor is that the division that will take on primary responsibility for this task is the DoJ's Civil Rights Division.
Undoubtedly, this will end up in court, sooner or later. And it's not likely to withstand much scrutiny. On the same day that Bondi issued her memo, U.S. District Judge John Cronan (a Trump appointee, in case you are wondering) issued an opinion that, while not directly addressed to the new "policy" from Bondi, makes clear that her interpretation of the Equal Protection Clause is on shaky legal ground. Conservative judges in Florida found the same thing, when Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) tried to punish DEI/DEIA-utilizing businesses and entities.
If Bondi is allowed to move forward, however, then it could mean chaos. Cases involving discrimination, regardless of who thinks they are being victimized, are notoriously difficult and expensive to litigate. The federal government has unlimited resources, whereas the government's targets do not. Trump and Bondi could use this to perform political theater, say by targeting universities, or corporations that dare to push back against Trumpism. Alternatively, Trump could use the threat of anti-DEI/DEIA suits to extract cash or other concessions from corporations, the way he's done with his various phony-as-hell defamation lawsuits.
The bottom line is that, as we've already written several times, the judicial branch is emerging as the first, and most important, line of defense against the illegal and problematic excesses of the Trump administration. The judiciary was largely up to the task for Trump v1.0, we will soon learn if that will be true for Trump v2.0. (Z)