Read a PDF of our statement here.

Legal Defense Fund (LDF) President and DirectorCounsel Janai Nelson issued the following statement on the announcement of Pamela “PamJo Bondi to be the President-elect’s nominee for Attorney General: 

Pam Bondi is an alarming pick for Attorney General. She has repeatedly spread lies about the 2020 election, falsely claiming that former President Trump won Pennsylvania and sowing doubt about the election’s integrity – one of the first public figures to do so. On the 2016 campaign trail, she co-signed lock her up chants, openly advocating for retribution against a political rival. At a time when voter suppression efforts and attacks on our democratic institutions are soaring, the head of our Justice Department should be someone who has shown a dedicated commitment to protecting the right to vote and defending the integrity of our elections, not someone with a demonstrated record of undermining those important aims.  

Pam Bondi has made clear that her undeviating allegiance tothe Presidentelect supersedes her respect for democratic institutions. She would be a dangerous person to serve as our nation’s top law enforcement officer. And she will be enabledand emboldened by a trio of Trump’s private criminal defense lawyers who he has chosen as nominees to surround her at the Department of Justice. If confirmed, these appointments would compromise the independence and integrity of the Department of Justice and undermine its role as an impartial guardian of the law.

“Based on her record and her apparent conflicts of interest, LDF strenuously opposes the nomination of Pam Bondi to the serve as the nation’s chief law enforcement officer in the country.”

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Legal Defense Fund (LDF) – Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.  

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