Pam Bondi’s lobbying past will create an ethics morass at DOJ

Pam Bondi has spent the past six years working as a lobbyist in Washington for some of the nation’s top companies, representing giants like Amazon and Uber.

Now, some of the same clients her firm represents are in dispute with the Justice Department she plans to lead. And business interests are cautiously optimistic that her selection will usher in an administration more friendly to their interests than President Joe Biden’s.

Lobbyists say her appointment could be a victory for major U.S. companies at odds with the Justice Department, including healthcare giant UnitedHealthcare and social media company TikTok. Those companies paid tens of thousands of dollars to Mr. Bondi’s current employer, Ballard Partners, this year, according to lobbying disclosures.

Mr. Bondi’s confirmation as attorney general would raise a myriad of ethical questions, including what kind of access he would give to his company and whether he would recuse himself from matters involving Mr. Ballard. Dew.

Mr. Bondi has not yet resigned from Ballard, where he remains a DC-based partner and chair of the firm’s corporate regulatory compliance practice, which focuses on Fortune 500 companies. Since 2019, she has lobbied the federal government on behalf of many major companies, including Amazon, General Motors, Fidelity National Financial, Uber, and Carnival North America. She serves as a key advisor to the company’s president, Brian Ballard.

Bondi also lobbies on behalf of GEO Group, a large private prison company that is paid hundreds of millions of dollars each year by the federal government. According to federal records. The Department of Justice is a major customer.

Bondi’s current lobbying listings include the American Major County Sheriff’s Department, which pays her company $50,000 a quarter, and the Florida Sheriff’s Risk Management, which pays her company $20,000 a quarter. foundation, and the Florida Sheriff’s Association, which will pay her company $20,000. A quarter. Mr. Bondi is also Mr. Trump’s former personal attorney and has also worked on corporate, regulatory and litigation matters at the Florida-based law firm Panza Maurer.

“Given the breadth of Bondi’s network, it is essentially impossible to organize the Justice Department ethically,” said Jeff Hauser, founder of the progressive Revolving Door Project. “I think the outcome will be unexpectedly bad.”

She added that even if Bondi doesn’t get involved in issues involving particular companies, she can still influence her department in their favor. For example, Hauser argued that her direction for the antitrust division would have far-reaching implications for Amazon, a former client.

Bondi did not respond to an email seeking comment, and an Amazon spokesperson declined to comment.

Some business leaders feared they would lose allies within the Republican Party as the party moves in a more populist direction under the Trump administration. However, major companies hope that the introduction of Bondi will give them a reprieve from the Biden administration’s crackdown on businesses and avoid following the Trump campaign’s anti-business rhetoric.

“Pam may strengthen the idea of ​​getting deals back on track,” one Republican lobbyist said, referring to corporate mergers. This person was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “Everyone believes she is approachable. … She understands that companies need the opportunity to be heard.”

For example, the tech industry is relatively optimistic about Bondi’s nomination, especially compared to the previous unsuccessful bid for attorney general by former congressman and antitrust activist Matt Gaetz. I’m relatively optimistic. For the past four years, major companies have been battling anti-monopoly advocates at the Justice Department, led by Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Cantor. One lobbyist representing big tech companies said Bondi’s election signals a move away from the economic populism that has made Big Tech companies their primary targets.

Among the Justice Department’s legal battles against the world’s largest technology companies is an ongoing lawsuit against Ballard’s client TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, alleging the company violated child privacy laws. The department has also defended legislation that would force ByteDance to sell TikTok, which President Trump opposed.

TikTok hired Ballard for lobbying efforts in early August, according to federal records. The company was paid $50,000 in the third quarter to lobby Congress on “issues related to the regulation of internet technologies and content platforms.”

“Elections like Pam Bondi’s represent a return to a more centrist approach to business as a whole,” said a lobbyist representing major technology companies. “We are cautiously optimistic and support her nomination.”

While serving as Florida’s attorney general, Mr. Bondi came under fire from progressives for his decision not to pursue corporate interests. After the Trump Foundation donated $25,000 to groups supporting Bondi, she made headlines for refusing to pursue penalties against Trump University. She claimed that the donation played no role in this decision.

Furthermore, the New York Times reported in 2014 She said she decided not to prosecute the hospital billing company, then known as Accretive Health, after her office was approached by the law firm that hired it.

“All nominees and appointees will comply with the ethical obligations of their respective institutions,” Trump transition spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement.

Brian Ballard, the company’s president and Ms. Bondi’s boss, called her “one of the most ethical and outspoken politicians.” [he’s] I’ve dealt with it before. ” He predicted she would take steps to prevent disputes that arose at her previous job and said his company would follow its rules.

Mr. Ballard brought his firm to Washington at the beginning of Mr. Trump’s presidency, establishing a lobbying firm known on K Street as one of the companies closest to Mr. Trump’s orbit. President Trump chose Susie Wiles, another alumnus of Ballard’s firm, to be his chief of staff, but Wiles was reportedly pressured to leave Ballard’s firm.

Bondi also could serve as head of the Department of Justice as Ballard Partners pursues its case against UnitedHealth, a new client. The Biden administration, along with several states, is moving to block UnitedHealth’s acquisition of health care and hospice provider Amedisys, arguing that consolidation would stifle competition in the industry. Ballard began lobbying UnitedHealth Care Services, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth, at the federal level last summer.

As the top prosecutor, Bondi will also be responsible for overseeing drug policy, as President Trump has indicated he supports loosening federal marijuana policies. Cannabis company Trulieve has worked with Ballard Partners for years to lobby on “medical marijuana policy and regulation.”

But good governance activists are concerned about Bondi’s corporate past. Rick Claypool, research director at the progressive consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said the Justice Department’s revolving door problem is a broader problem with its leadership, and Bondi is the latest example. said. He worries that her background in defending businesses from law enforcement action will influence how the department is managed.

“We know that corporate defendants are using every advantage they can to make claims to avoid enforcement,” he said. “So I think it’s going to be very important that the front-line Justice Department prosecutors who are investigating and building cases against former clients are able to do their jobs without interference.”