Bar Complaint Lodged Against Bondi

When Pam Bondi promised during her Senate confirmation hearing that she’d keep politics out of the Justice Department, few took that pledge at face value. After all, Bondi was no stranger to political alignment, having served as Florida Attorney General and as a loyal Trump surrogate. But since her confirmation in February as U.S. Attorney General in Trump’s second term, the tension between her words and her deeds has reached a boiling point.

Now, a powerful coalition of roughly 70 legal professionals—ranging from attorneys to retired Florida Supreme Court justices—is formally accusing Bondi of “serious professional misconduct” through an ethics complaint filed with The Florida Bar. Their charge: that Bondi has coerced career DOJ lawyers to pursue the president’s political objectives, even at the cost of their ethical duties and the integrity of the Justice Department.

At the heart of the complaint is Bondi’s controversial “Zealous Advocacy” memo, issued on her first day in office. In it, she instructed DOJ employees to not only enforce the law but to vigorously defend the president’s policies—and warned that failure to comply could result in discipline or termination. According to the coalition, this memo marked the start of a campaign to coerce attorneys into violating their ethical boundaries.

Three incidents cited in the complaint illustrate this dynamic vividly:

• The deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a man wrongly removed to El Salvador despite a court order. DOJ lawyer Erez Reuveni, who objected to the deportation, was first placed on leave and later terminated.
• The resignation of Denise Cheung, a veteran prosecutor who refused to pursue charges tied to a Biden-era EPA contract due to a lack of evidence.
• The dismissal of corruption charges against NYC Mayor Eric Adams, which led to the resignations of several prosecutors, including Acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon. Her resignation letter described what amounted to a quid pro quo from Adams’ lawyers: drop the case, and he’ll help the DOJ advance its enforcement priorities.

Each example reflects a DOJ under strain—one where political loyalty appears to outweigh legal ethics.

Despite the gravity of the allegations, The Florida Bar has once again declined to take action. Citing jurisdictional constraints, it said it cannot investigate sitting constitutional officers like Bondi. This is the third such complaint the Bar has rejected. The coalition, though unsurprised, voiced disappointment and pledged to explore further steps.

The DOJ’s official response? Defiant. A spokesperson dismissed the complaint as the latest “vexatious attempt” by “out-of-state lawyers,” going so far as to insult the signatories’ intelligence. It’s a far cry from the Department’s once-proud image as an apolitical arm of justice.

The ethical complaints come amid broader concerns over the collapse of prosecutorial independence. Bondi has overseen mass firings of DOJ officials tied to Trump’s previous legal entanglements, including career prosecutors involved in the classified documents and January 6 investigations.

This erosion of DOJ independence was codified in a landmark Supreme Court decision in July 2024, when the Court ruled 6–3 that a sitting president is immune from criminal liability for official acts. The ruling effectively authorized the president to use the DOJ as a political instrument, provided actions are framed within his constitutional duties.

It’s a ruling that Richard Nixon could only have dreamed of. What was once known as the “Saturday Night Massacre” has become normalized.

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