President Donald Trump fired Pam Bondi as attorney general this week, and it didn’t take long for talk of bad blood between the two to make the rounds.
Adding to the speculation, a report claimed that Bondi’s portrait had been placed in a trash can at the Department of Justice following her departure.
The photos spread quickly on social media — and the department has since responded to the allegations.
DOJ calls it ‘fake news’
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The DOJ’s Rapid Response account on X pushed back, writing, “Fake News vs. Real News.”
Alongside the post, the department shared a side-by-side image — on one side, the viral photo claiming to show Bondi’s portrait in a trash can, and on the other, a photo of her portrait still hanging on the wall.
But not everyone was convinced. MS NOW sources said the image was entirely believable, given how Bondi was viewed inside the department.
“Current and former Justice Department officials say it’s a reflection of how deeply unpopular Bondi was with career officials and agents, thousands of whom left the department rather than follow her orders,” the outlet reported.
Donald Trump’s message
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Despite pushing Bondi out, Trump’s announcement on X was full of praise. “Pam Bondi is a great American patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my attorney general over the past year. Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown on crime across our country, with murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900,” the president wrote.
“We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future, and our deputy attorney general, and a very talented and respected legal mind, Todd Blanche, will step in to serve as acting attorney general,” Trump added.
The Jeffrey Epstein file controversy
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While Trump did not say why he fired Bondi, her departure comes amid ongoing fallout over theJeffrey Epstein files.
Trump had promised voters the Epstein files would be made public, but Bondi’s handling of the release fell short of those expectations.
When the documents did come out, it had major redactions — which the DOJ said were necessary to protect victims, though critics argued they may have violated a law Congress passed last year requiring the files to be fully disclosed.