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u.s. department of justice
Durbin Demands Answers on Bondi's Foreign, Corporate Lobbying Clients
"I remain concerned about her ability to serve as an attorney general who will put her oath to the Constitution ahead of her fealty to Donald Trump," said the senator.
Jan 10, 2025
Ahead of a planned confirmation hearing for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general nominee, Pam Bondi, the Senate Judiciary Committee's top Democrat on Friday joined government watchdogs in raising alarm over Bondi's past lobbying work.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the panel's ranking member, asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to turn over information regarding Bondi's past registration as a foreign agent working on behalf of countries including Qatar, Kosovo, and Zimbabwe.
Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, did not list foreign clients as potential conflicts of interest on her Senate Judiciary Questionnaire, said Durbin, who met with her earlier this week.
Under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), the DOJ is "privy to a number of disclosures, including details on any written or oral contracts as well as money spent and received while lobbying," reportedThe Hill.
"To understand the extent to which her work as a FARA-registered lobbyist may create potential conflicts of interest should she be confirmed as attorney general, the committee requires additional information from the Department of Justice that is not otherwise available," Durbin wrote to the DOJ.
The senator also asked the National Archives and Records Administration to disclose to the committee records on more than 25 companies Bondi lobbied for, including Major League Baseball (MLB), Amazon, and General Motors (GM).
The DOJ in 2023 asked a federal court not to extend MLB's exemption from antitrust laws, and the department has reached settlements with Amazon and GM, along with other companies Bondi lobbied for.
"The role of the attorney general is to oversee an independent Justice Department that upholds the rule of law and is free of undue political influence," said Durbin on Wednesday. "Given Ms. Bondi’s responses to my questions, I remain concerned about her ability to serve as an attorney general who will put her oath to the Constitution ahead of her fealty to Donald Trump."
Durbin raised the concerns following the release of reports by Public Citizen and Accountable.US, on Bondi's history of lobbying work.
Accountable.US found that at least five of Bondi's major corporate lobbying clients "faced DOJ fines, investigations, or related scrutiny that could pose serious conflicts if she is confirmed as AG."
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Ethics Report Finds Matt Gaetz, Trump's First AG Pick, Paid for Sex With a Minor
"Keep in mind that Donald Trump believed that Gaetz was the most qualified person in America to be the chief law enforcement official in the United States," said one attorney.
Dec 23, 2024
Government ethics advocates on Monday voiced serious concerns over President-elect Donald Trump's judgment and transition process following the release of a congressional probe containing "substantial evidence" that, while in office, former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida—Trump's erstwhile pick for U.S attorney general—committed statutory rape against a minor, bought and used illegal drugs, and obstructed the investigation against him.
The bipartisan House Ethics Committee "determined there is substantial evidence that Rep. Gaetz violated House rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress" during his time in office, according to the panel's 37-page report.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, (D-Md.), the incoming ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, toldUSA Today on Monday that "it's a terribly damning report for any member of Congress and a humiliating one for someone who wanted to be considered as an attorney general of the United States."
The report says Gaetz made more than $90,000 in payments for what the committee believed were likely "sexual activity and/or illicit drug use," including $400 for sex with a 17-year-old girl who "had just completed her junior year of high school" at a July 15, 2017 party at the home of Christopher Dorworth, a former Republican state lawmaker in Florida who was once
named "legislator of the year" by the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence. According to court filings viewed by Rolling Stone, Dorworth repeatedly sought the destruction of records related to the party.
The publication further states that the girl did not disclose her age to Gaetz—who was 35 at the time—nor did he ask. The girl also "acknowledged that she was under the influence of ecstasy during her sexual encounters" with Gaetz at the party and said she saw him "use cocaine" at the gathering. The panel found that Gaetz repeatedly used these and other illicit drugs.
The committee also found that Gaetz:
- Accepted gifts, including transportation and lodging in connection with a 2018 trip to the Bahamas, in excess of permissible amounts;
- Arranged for his chief of staff to assist a woman with whom he engaged in sexual activity in obtaining a passport, falsely indicating to the U.S. Department of State that she was a constituent;
- Knowingly and willfully sought to impede and obstruct the committee's investigation of his conduct; and
- Acted in a manner that reflects discreditably upon the House.
While the report states that all of the sexual encounters involving Gaetz were consensual, "at least one woman felt that the use of drugs at the parties and events they attended may have 'impair[ed their] ability to really know what was going on or fully consent.'"
One woman told the committee, "When I look back on certain moments, I feel violated."
Statutory rape and 20 instances of paying for sex, which Gaetz has vehemently denied. What was Gaetz thinking putting himself up for AJ? And for Trump “vetting“ team, malpractice if they didn’t know; fraud on Senate, country if they did know and tried to slide him through with no investigation
— Harry Litman ( @harrylitman.bsky.social) December 23, 2024 at 7:13 AM
The probe did not find that Gaetz broke federal sex trafficking laws, because although he "did cause the transportation of women across state lines for purposes of commercial sex, the committee did not find evidence that any of those women were under 18 at the time of travel, nor did the committee find sufficient evidence to conclude that the commercial sex acts were induced by force, fraud, or coercion."
Gaetz—who on Monday filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block the report's release on the grounds that he is now a private citizen—has repeatedly denied having sex with a minor.
"These claims would be destroyed in court—which is why they were never made in any court against me," he toldThe Hill on Monday ahead of the report's release—but after some of the findings were reported on late Sunday.
In a move widely seen as an attempt to prevent the public from ever seeing the report, Gaetz resigned from Congress on November 13, shortly after Trump announced him as the nominee for attorney general.
The Republican-controlled House Ethics Committee initially said on November 20 that it would not release the report on Gaetz, which widespread criticism. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) vehemently objected to releasing the report, arguing that doing so would set a "terrible precedent."
The following day, Gaetz said he would not accept Trump's nomination to head the U.S. Department of Justice. Trump subsequently tapped former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi for the top DOJ post.
The report on Gaetz has renewed focus on Trump's fitness for office.
As you read the House Ethics report about Gaetz, always keep in mind that Donald Trump believed that Gaetz was the most qualified person in America to be the chief law enforcement official in the United States.
— Ron Filipkowski ( @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) December 23, 2024 at 7:16 AM
"Matt Gaetz is the man Donald Trump would have had as attorney general of the United States of America," Robert Weissman, co-president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said in a statement. "Trump and his transition team are disregarding obvious red flags in announcing their planned Cabinet and top official nominees, seemingly relying on rabid loyalty to the incoming president as the primary selection criterion."
"The Gaetz report underscores the importance of the Senate independently and aggressively exercising its advise and consent function," Weissman added.
Lawyers for Good Government vice-chair Adam Cohen wrote on social media, "I don't care if Gaetz was some strategic sacrificial lamb pick."
"Trump now expects his other nominees to sail through," he added. "We need to challenge them all."
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Trump Taps Anti-Trans Lawyer Harmeet Dhillon for Key Civil Rights Post
"Dhillon has focused her career on diminishing civil rights, rather than enforcing or protecting them," argued one critic.
Dec 10, 2024
LGBTQ+ and voting rights defenders were among those who sounded the alarm Tuesday over Republican President-elect Donald Trump's selection of a San Francisco attorney known for fighting against transgender rights and for leading a right-wing lawyers' group that took part in Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election to oversee the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.
On Monday, Trump announced his nomination of Harmeet Dhillon to head the key civil rights office, claiming on his Truth Social network that the former California Republican Party vice-chair "has stood up consistently to protect our cherished Civil Liberties, including taking on Big Tech for censoring our Free Speech, representing Christians who were prevented from praying together during COVID, and suing corporations who use woke policies to discriminate against their workers."
"In her new role at the DOJ, Harmeet will be a tireless defender of our Constitutional Rights, and will enforce our Civil Rights and Election Laws FAIRLY and FIRMLY," Trump added.
However, prominent trans activist Erin Reed warned on her Substack that Dhillon's nomination—which requires Senate confirmation—"signals an alarming shift that could make life increasingly difficult for transgender people nationwide, including those who have sought refuge in blue states to escape anti-trans legislation."
Trump has picked Harmeet Dhillon as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. She has stated that it must be "made unsafe" for hospitals to provide trans care, and frequently shares Libs of TikTok posts. She intends to target trans people in blue states. Subscribe to support my journalism.
[image or embed]
— Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.com) December 10, 2024 at 8:14 AM
Reed continued:
Dhillon's most prominent work includes founding the Center for American Liberty, a legal organization that focuses heavily on anti-transgender cases in blue states. The organization's "featured cases" section highlights several lawsuits, such as Chloe Cole's case against Kaiser Permanente; a lawsuit challenging a Colorado school's use of a transgender student's preferred name; a case against a California school district seeking to implement policies that would forcibly out transgender students; and a lawsuit against Vermont for denying a foster care license to a family unwilling to comply with nondiscrimination policies regarding transgender youth.
Reed also highlighted Dhillon's attacks on state laws protecting transgender people, as well as her expression of "extreme anti-trans views" on social media—including calling gender-affirming healthcare for trans children "child abuse."
Last year, The Guardian's Jason Wilson reported that the Center for American Liberty made a six-figure payment to a public relations firm that represented Dhillion in both "her capacity as head of her own for-profit law firm and Republican activist."
Writing for the voting rights platform Democracy Docket, Matt Cohen on Tuesday accused Dhillon of being "one of the leading legal figures working to roll back voting rights across the country."
"In the past few years, Dhillon—or an attorney from her law firm—has been involved in more than a dozen different lawsuits in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. challenging voting rights laws, redistricting, election processes, or Trump's efforts to appear on the ballot in the 2024 election," Cohen noted.
As Maya Wiley, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said in a statement Tuesday, "The Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division has the critical responsibility of enforcing our nation's federal civil rights laws and ensuring equal justice under the law on behalf of all of our communities."
"That means investigating police departments that have a pattern of police abuse, protecting the right to vote, and ensuring schools don't discriminate against children based on who they are," Wiley noted. "The nomination of Harmeet Dhillon to lead this critical civil rights office is yet another clear sign that this administration seeks to advance ideological viewpoints over the rights and protections that protect every person in this country."
"Dhillon has focused her career on diminishing civil rights, rather than enforcing or protecting them," she asserted. "Rather than fighting to expand voting access, she has worked to restrict it."
A staunch Trump loyalist, Dhillon has also embraced conspiracy theories including the former president's "Big Lie" that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, and has accused Democrats of "conspiring to commit the biggest election interference fraud in world history."
She was co-chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association when it launched Lawyers for Trump, a group that urged the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene on behalf of the former president after he lost the 2020 election.
Cohen also highlighted Dhillon's ties to right-wing legal activist and Federalist Society co-chair Leonard Leo, described by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) as a "lawless con man and crook" for his refusal to comply with a Senate subpoena and his organization of lavish gifts to conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices.
"We need a leader at the Civil Rights Division who understands that civil rights protections are not partisan or political positions open to the ideological whims of those who seek to elevate a single religion or to protect political allies or particular groups over others," Wiley stressed. "We need a leader who will vigorously enforce our civil rights laws and work to protect the rights of all of our communities—including in voting, education, employment, housing, and public accommodations—without fear or favor."
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