Accountability and Political Prosecution in the Trump Era

At her confirmation hearing Wednesday, Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, Pam Bondi, sought in some ways to project an apolitical aura. But Bondi also refused to answer direct questions about Trump’s threats to prosecute enemies, and dissembled about similar threats from Kash Patel, Trump’s pick to head the FBI. All this accidentally revealed something important. Bondi could not say straight out that she wouldn’t carry out Trump’s corrupt designs, because saying that could disqualify her in his eyes—which is itself the problem here. We talked to former prosecutor Mimi Rocah, who explains how Bondi exposed herself as an unreliable defender of the rule of law—and what that telegraphs about the coming hellscape of 2025.

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