{"id":381807,"date":"2026-04-04T15:12:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T15:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/381807\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T15:12:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T15:12:20","slug":"pam-bondis-portrait-already-taken-down-at-justice-department","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/381807\/","title":{"rendered":"Pam Bondi\u2019s portrait already taken down at Justice Department"},"content":{"rendered":"

It did not take long for the pictures to come off the wall.<\/p>\n

Within hours of the news that President Donald Trump had fired Pam Bondi as attorney general, images began circulating of her framed portrait, unceremoniously removed from its place of honor near the president and vice president on the walls of Justice Department offices.<\/p>\n

One photo obtained by MS NOW showed Bondi\u2019s portrait in a trash bin.<\/p>\n

\"\"Obtained by MS NOW<\/p>\n

Current and former DOJ officials said it\u2019s a reflection of how deeply unpopular Bondi was with career officials and agents, thousands of whom left the department rather than follow her orders. Dozens more were forced out<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Many of those officials remain angry about an episode at the beginning of her term, when Bondi entered a secure area of the DOJ offices of the national security division and saw that President Joe Biden\u2019s portrait was still on the wall, along with former Attorney General Merrick Garland. Bondi demoted a respected career veteran <\/a>over the pictures still hanging in the offices after Trump\u2019s inauguration.<\/p>\n

In interviews, Bondi recounted how she took the photos down herself.<\/a> She cited the episode as evidence that career DOJ employees were more loyal to Democrats than Republicans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went up on the seventh floor, which is the national security division. The entire floor is a SCIF, so no one can get in there,\u201d Bondi said on Fox News. \u201cSo I was able to get the code, open the door, and I look on the wall and see President Biden, Kamala Harris, and Merrick Garland\u2019s paintings still hanging.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI personally took all three photos down,\u201d she added. \u201cI put them in front of someone who said to me, \u2018Oh well, maintenance is really slow here. I said, \u2018Well it took me about 30 seconds to get them off the wall.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\tRecommended<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\"Ken\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tKen Dilanian<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tKen Dilanian is the justice and intelligence correspondent for MS NOW.\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tCarol Leonnig<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tCarol Leonnig is a senior investigative reporter with MS NOW. \t\t<\/p>\n

\"MS<\/p>\n

\u00a9\u00a02026 Versant Media, LLC<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n