Florida
AG
Pam
Bondi
(Photo
by
Joe
Raedle/Getty)
With
Matt
Gaetz
exiting
the
stage
to
spend
more
time
contributing
to
college
funds
of
17-year-old
girls
one
publicly
accessible
Venmo
transaction
at
a
time,
Donald
Trump
checked
between
the
cushions
of
his
clown
car
for
a
new
nominee.
He’s
now
lost
an
AG
nominee
to
serious
sex
abuse
allegations,
and
he’s
already
used
the
wrestling
magnate
(subject
to
serious
sex
abuse
allegations)
and
the
Fox
News
personality
(subject
to
serious
sex
abuse
allegations)…
where
could
he
go
next?
Maybe
someone
who
engaged
in
a
drawn
out
litigation
to
steal
a
dog
away
from
Hurricane
Katrina
victims?
Wait
a
minute,
which
side
was
taking
the
dogs
and
taking
the
cats,
again?
Hey,
at
least
she
was
trying
to
keep
the
dog
and
not
kill
it
like
some
of
Trump’s
cabinet
picks.
Anyway,
the
answer
to
Trump’s
problem
turned
out
to
be
former
Florida
Attorney
General
Pam
Bondi.
It’s
a
blow
to
the
most
militant
corners
of
MAGA
hoping
to
elevate
someone
like
Texas
Attorney
General
and
plea
deal
subject
Ken
Paxton
or
former
Senate
aide
and
advocate
of
“arming
up”
against
the
“Black
underclass”
Mike
Davis
who
have
shown
an
interest
in
weaponizing
the
Justice
Department.
Instead,
Trump
went
with
the
“I’ve
seen
her
be
blonde
on
TV”
pick.
It’s
quite
possible
that
America
will
be
spared
the
worst
excesses
of
an
out-of-control
Justice
Department
solely
because
all
the
other
possible
candidates
are
bridge
trolls
that
can’t
drive
ratings.
Bondi
also
continues
the
trend
of
Trump
staffing
the
DOJ
leadership
with
his
personal
lawyers,
suggesting
that
deep
down
he’s
less
interested
in
using
federal
law
enforcement
to
pursue
Project
2025
wars
than
in
building
a
tax-funded
law
firm
to
handle
his
personal
legal
troubles.
Bondi
represented
Trump
in
his
first
impeachment
and
did
a
bang
up
job…
and
by
“bang
up”
we
mean
“carelessly
careening
into
the
wall.”
Stellar.
CNN
Legal
Analyst
Elie
Honig
says
Bondi
is
“without
a
question,
qualified
to
be
Attorney
General.”
While
Honig
has
been
doing
his
level
best
to
become
CNN’s
answer
to
Jonathan
Turley,
he’s
superficially
correct
to
the
extent
she’s
actually
done
this
job
at
the
state
level,
placing
her
streets
ahead
of
Gaetz.
She’s
also
a
registered
agent
of
the
Qatari
government,
which
doesn’t
seem
to
factor
into
CNN’s
analysis.
Probably
not
a
big
deal…
they
don’t
have
any
history
of
harboring
terrorist
organization
leaders
or
anything.
But
“qualified”
should
involve
a
deeper
inquiry
than
spot
checking
line
items
on
a
resume.
Someone’s
legal
judgment
should
probably
factor
in
as
well.
Which
brings
us
to
Doggiegate.
Before
working
her
way
to
be
Florida’s
top
cop,
Pam
Bondi
engaged
in
a
legal
fight
over
a
St.
Bernard
that
she
adopted
in
the
aftermath
of
Katrina.
The
problem
is
that
the
dog
belonged
to
a
family
that
was
struggling
to
get
back
on
their
feet
after
the
deadly
storm.
From
the
Tampa
Bay
Times:
Bondi
made
her
way
to
Clearwater’s
Pinellas
Humane
Society
and
left
with
the
St.
Bernard
from
New
Orleans.
She
fostered
him
for
3o
days
and
then
adopted
him
in
October.But
at
around
the
same
time,
the
Coutures
say,
they
tracked
their
dogs
to
Pinellas
County.
Bondi
had
adopted
Master
Tank,
the
St.
Bernard,
and
a
family
in
Dunedin
had
Nila,
a
shepherd
mix.The
Coutures
want
their
dogs
back.
But
getting
them
has
not
been
easy.
Animals
are
overlooked
victims
of
natural
disasters
and
can
be
left
abandoned
when
their
owners
are
killed
or
forced
into
long-term
hospital
stays
by
the
event.
But
after
Hurricane
Katrina,
adopting
dogs
from
New
Orleans
should
be
handled
with
more
than
the
usual
degree
of
caution.
Especially
when
the
dogs
have
crossed
state
lines
in
the
process.
The
Couture
family
—
a
couple
and
their
two
grandchildren
—
wanted
its
beloved
pet
back.
Bondi
wanted
to
keep
the
dog
she’d
had
for
a
month.
You
can
see
how
this
was
a
close
call
that
required
litigation.
SIXTEEN
MONTHS
OF
LITIGATION.
From
another
Times
article:
Both
sides
settled
the
case
just
before
it
went
to
trial.
The
terms
were
confidential,
but
reports
at
the
time
said
Bondi
offered
to
provide
the
St.
Bernard
with
food
and
medication
for
life
and
to
visit
occasionally.
The
Coutures
said
they
would
keep
in
touch
and
send
photos.
Frankly,
after
16
months
this
is
a
pretty
generous
resolution.
Dog
food
and
medication
for
life
can
get
pricey
but
not
like
a
lawyer
billing
by
the
hour.
So
that
pretty
much
wraps
it
up,
huh?
Oh,
my
sweet
summer
child,
no
it
does
not.
It
seemed
like
an
amicable
ending.
But
three
years
later,
the
Coutures
have
little
good
to
say
about
their
former
foe.
Moreover,
they
say,
she
never
kept
her
promise.“She
was
going
to
take
care
of
him
for
the
rest
of
his
life
and
supply
him
with
food
and
medicine,”
Dorreen
Couture
said
recently
from
her
rebuilt
home
in
New
Orleans.
“She
did
for
the
first
few
months.
After
that,
she
was
supposed
to
have
her
first
visitation
that
September
and
she
canceled.”
So
Bondi
fought
hurricane
victims
for
16
months,
settled
with
them,
then
skipped
out
on
the
settlement?
Shouldn’t
“honoring
the
terms
of
a
negotiated
litigation
settlement”
fit
into
the
sort
of
generalized
“respect
for
the
rule
of
law”
that
makes
an
AG
—
I
dunno
—
qualified?
Or
maybe
it’s
the
rule
of…
paw?
Ugh.
Sorry.
“I
feel
for
the
state
of
Florida
if
they
elect
her,”
Dorreen
Couture
said.
“She
has
no
compassion
at
all.”
It’s
the
United
States
now.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
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Follow
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if
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Joe
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