President-elect Donald Trump tapped Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, as his new choice to lead the Justice Department on Thursday. The decision came just hours after former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R), a fellow Floridian, withdrew his name from consideration amid a growing scandal over an ethics investigation into claims of sexual misconduct and drug use.
Here are five things to know about Bondi, a close ally of the Trump family:
Bondi was Florida’s first female attorney general.
Bondi became Florida’s first female attorney general in 2010 after she was endorsed by then-Republican superstar Sarah Palin. Unlike Gaetz, she had a long career as a prosecutor before she took on the state’s top law enforcement role. She spent 18 years at the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office.
During her tenure at Florida’s attorney general, she waged failed attempts to overturn the Affordable Care Act and attempted to keep Florida’s ban on gay marriage in place while pledging…