Impeachment trial: The hypocrisy of Pam Bondi’s function on workforce Trump

Former Florida Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi has turn out to be one thing of a punchline throughout President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial in her function because the protection workforce’s Hunter Biden specialist.

Over the course of 10 hours of testimony on Wednesday, she solely spoke as soon as, however the halting and deliberate method wherein she pushed conspiracy theories geared toward shifting consideration from Trump to the Biden household went viral and have become the topic of a Every day Present video.

Issues went downhill for her once more on Thursday when she stumbled by means of an allegation about how Hunter and his father Joe Biden occurring fishing journeys collectively was purportedly proof of corruption.

The purpose of Bondi’s remarks appeared to be that Hunter was in shut contact with Joe Biden, and due to this fact that his father should’ve been within the loop about his work for Burisma, a Ukrainian gasoline firm that has been accused of corruption. However there’s no proof that Hunter’s work influenced the Obama administration’s overseas coverage, or that Joe Biden pulled strings to get Hunter his place. Hunter promoting his household identify, whereas unseemly, is just not in and of itself corrupt.

Bondi’s arguments don’t have anything to do with the 2 prices towards Trump below the articles of impeachment — abuse of energy over withholding taxpayer-funded army help to Ukraine in trade for the private political favor of investigating the Hunter Biden, and contempt of Congress prices for failing to adjust to the investigation. As an alternative, her job is to alter the topic; she desires to make it appear to be it’s the Bidens who’ve a corruption drawback.

However Bondi herself is a little bit of an odd determine to serve the function of the “corruption” skilled. Let’s evaluate Bondi’s personal very spotty report on the topic.

Bondi determined to not sue Trump College after she obtained a donation from Trump, amongst different unseemly issues

Bondi’s relationship with Trump dates again to 2013, when as Florida legal professional normal, she introduced she was contemplating becoming a member of a lawsuit that New York Lawyer Normal Eric Schneiderman was submitting towards Trump College for scamming college students.

However 4 days later, Trump’s basis reduce Bondi’s reelection marketing campaign a test for $25,000. Lo and behold, Bondi never ended up joining the lawsuit.

Whereas nonetheless serving as Florida legal professional normal in August 2018, Bondi raised eyebrows by serving as co-host of Fox Information’s The 5 for 3 straight days. She didn’t find yourself working for reelection.

Bondi has been attacking Hunter Biden for serving in a well-compensated function regardless of having questionable credentials, however after leaving workplace in Florida, a agency she labored for was paid $115,000 a month for work she did lobbying for the Qatari authorities.

She left that function to affix Trump’s authorized workforce. Within the months main as much as the impeachment trial, she’s served as considered one of Trump’s TV surrogates — a job wherein she’s mangled primary info surrounding the Ukraine scandal.

If all of this appears to level towards Bondi being a lower than excellent option to make the case for Trump about purported Biden corruption, you’d be proper.

The shamelessness is the purpose

Bondi is simply concerning the inappropriate particular person potential that Trump might’ve picked for her function. However the truth that she’s in that place anyway speaks to a broader shamelessness.

A key a part of Trump’s protection has been to argue that essentially the most personally corrupt president in fashionable American historical past is actually a principled opponent of corruption. Trump has claimed to not know fixers who labored with Rudy Giuliani to hold out his Ukraine scheme, regardless of video of them hanging out together at his Mar-a-Lago resort. He’s repeatedly pushed a number of easily debunkable lies concerning the timeline of the Ukraine scandal with the intention to make it appear to be Democrats have simply had it out for him.

In the meantime, Trump’s Republican defenders have complained about Democrats not presenting new proof in the course of the impeachment trial, ignoring that the explanation they’ve been unable to as a result of Republicans voted to block them from being able to do so. And as new proof of Trump’s misconduct has emerged, Trump’s defenders within the Senate and on his authorized workforce have moved the goalposts from “there was no corrupt quid professional quo” to “corrupt quid pro quos aren’t impeachable.”

So shamelessness is a function of Trumpism, not a bug. And whereas Pam Bondi’s efficiency could appear laughable to most, it’s been ample for Senate Republicans — and so far as Trump’s destiny in the course of the impeachment trial is worried, that’s adequate.

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