AG Bondi Faces On-Air Backlash as 3,000 DOJ Lawyers Resign
In the sweltering heat of a Washington D.C. summer, where the air hung heavy with the scent of impending scandal, Attorney General Pam Bondi found herself at the center of a storm that threatened to engulf the entire Department of Justice. It was late July 2024, and the nation was already reeling from a series of high-profile controversies under the Trump administration’s second term. But nothing prepared Bondi for the meltdown that unfolded on live television, broadcast to millions on Fox News’ “Hannity.” As prosecutors quit in droves and investigations unraveled, Bondi’s facade of control cracked, revealing the chaos beneath. This was no ordinary political drama; it was a reckoning for a DOJ accused of corruption, cover-ups, and outright racketeering.
Bondi, a former Florida attorney general turned Trump’s loyal enforcer, had always projected an image of unflinching resolve. With her sharp suits and steely gaze, she embodied the administration’s hardline stance on immigration, crime, and national security. But beneath that veneer lay a woman grappling with a department in freefall. The resignations started small but snowballed into a crisis. By mid-2024, over 3,000 DOJ attorneys had quit or been fired—triple the typical annual rate. The exodus began in earnest after Trump’s inauguration, fueled by directives that many lawyers deemed unethical or illegal. Prosecutors in key offices, from civil rights divisions to federal courts, walked away rather than enforce policies they saw as targeting the wrong people.
The tipping point came in Minnesota, where six top prosecutors resigned en masse. These weren’t junior staffers; they were the backbone of the state’s federal legal operations, including those involved in fraud investigations initiated under former President Biden. The probes targeted voter fraud in Minnesota and beyond, a cornerstone of Trump’s 2020 election denial narrative. But the resignations weren’t about fraud alone. They stemmed from a directive to shift focus from investigating rogue ICE agents to pursuing the widow of Renee Nicole Good, a Black woman killed in a botched immigration raid.
Renee Nicole Good’s death had become a flashpoint. In 2023, during an ICE operation in Minneapolis, Agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot Good while she was in her home. The incident sparked outrage, with witnesses claiming excessive force. The DOJ, under Bondi’s watch, ordered prosecutors to prioritize charging Good’s widow, accusing her of obstruction for speaking out against the raid. Meanwhile, Ross faced minimal scrutiny, his actions framed as “heroic law enforcement.” The Minnesota prosecutors, many of whom had built careers on civil rights cases, refused. “We won’t go after the widow,” one resigned deputy told colleagues. “This is a cover-up.” Their departures left the office in disarray, with U.S. Attorney Rosen scrambling to fill the gaps.
Bondi’s response was explosive. On Hannity, she broke down, her voice trembling as she recounted the resignations. “What happened in Minnesota? We had six prosecutors who suddenly decided they didn’t want to support the men and women in ICE,” she said, her eyes glistening. “One of them was busy doing a photo shoot with the New York Times while ICE was out there risking their lives.” The audience chuckled, but Bondi’s tone shifted to fury. “So they came, they said, ‘We want to resign, but we want to use our annual leave up until April.’ Meaning they wanted the taxpayers to pay for them to go on vacation because they decided they didn’t want to support law enforcement.”
She paused, wiping a tear. “So the breaking news tonight, I fired them all. They’re fired from the office.” Hannity nodded sympathetically, but Bondi pressed on. “And our U.S. attorney there, Rosen, he’s great. He was just confirmed three months ago. So he has his hands full. And that’s what we’re facing around the country—the deep state, in many of these offices.” She revealed that the prosecutors had been interviewing at “liberal law firms” beforehand. “But I’ll tell you what, from a personnel level, they’d be an HR nightmare. So people better look into them. One of them actually in 2022 defended BLM when they burned down a pawn shop and someone was murdered. Yeah, they want to be part of the resistance. Yeah, bring it on. They’re not going to be working for Donald Trump and the Department of Justice any longer.”
The clip went viral, not for its content, but for Bondi’s visible distress. Critics called it a “public meltdown,” accusing her of emotional manipulation. But behind the tears was a deeper truth: the DOJ was hemorrhaging talent. In Maine, four or five top civil rights prosecutors quit over similar orders to avoid investigating Ross and instead target Good’s family. Nationwide, the number climbed to 3,000, as reported by Brad Heath. “More than 2,900 attorneys quit the Justice Department or were fired during the first 10 months of this year,” Heath wrote. “About triple the number who depart in a typical year.” By July, it neared 3,000, with more expected.
Bondi’s critics, including hosts on the Midas Touch Network, saw it as karmic justice. “Pam Bondi, you’ve turned the DOJ into a racketeering enterprise for the purpose of covering up child sex trafficking,” commentator Ron Filipkowski raged. “You should be disgusted with yourself.” The network highlighted the irony: prosecutors resigning over ethical breaches, while Bondi cried on state media. “She goes to regime media where she cries and whines,” Filipkowski said. “But there you are on Hannity, crying on public TV while live.”
The fallout extended beyond Minnesota. Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis, a Democrat, weighed in during a Fox News interview. When pressed on the fraud investigations, he fired back. “There have been investigations into this fraud now for years. People have been prosecuted. People have been convicted, and that’s the way it should be. When you commit a crime in this country, you are held accountable and you go to jail as an individual.” He emphasized that entire communities shouldn’t be punished for individuals’ actions.
Frey then addressed the resignations directly. “If we care about the investigation of these crimes—and I do—do you find it concerning that all of the people that were actually investigating and prosecuting this crime just walked out? Do you find that concerning?” The Fox host deflected, but Frey’s point was clear: the exodus undermined public safety. “We just cover it and we see where the facts lead us,” the host replied weakly.
Bondi’s meltdown wasn’t isolated. She also defended a controversial FBI search warrant executed at the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Nathanson. Nathanson, dubbed the “federal government whisperer,” had cultivated 1,169 sources within the government, exposing alleged illegal activities by Trump and his allies. Bondi ordered the raid, seizing phones, laptops, and personal devices to uncover her sources. On Hannity, she downplayed it. “I mean, I guess there could be a couple of scenarios. One, if the press was soliciting classified material purposefully… Or what if something is sent that’s classified and the reporter had no idea it was classified?”
She insisted it was routine. “If the reporter had no idea it’s classified, we have the right to have that returned to the Department of Justice… I cannot talk about the facts of this case because right now it’s just a search warrant to retrieve the information that belongs to the Department of War.” Nathanson’s lawyer condemned it as an attack on press freedom, but Bondi framed it as protecting national security. “We have to protect our classified information and the heroic men and women in the military.”
The raid targeted an IT contractor from the Department of Defense, charged with leaking classified info. “The guy who worked for the Department of War, he is in jail and he should remain in jail,” Bondi said. Critics saw it as retaliation against whistleblowers, part of a broader pattern of silencing dissent.
The DOJ’s troubles compounded with the Epstein files. Under the Epstein Transparency Act, the department was required to release records from Jeffrey Epstein’s case. But only 1% had been disclosed, sparking outrage. Bondi defended the slow rollout, but Republican allies like Lauren Boebert and Tim Burchett echoed her talking points. “I think we’re releasing quite a bit,” Boebert said when questioned. “The DOJ is working. At least they’re producing something. The Clintons couldn’t even show up for a deposition.”
Burchett added, “Tens of thousands have already been released… When we released these files, the Democrats did not… They asked to slow it down. They wanted more stuff redacted.” Critics accused the DOJ of covering up a child sex trafficking ring involving powerful figures, with Bondi at the helm.
Pardons became another flashpoint. Trump’s broad pardons for January 6 rioters extended to “related conduct,” prompting claims that even the suspected pipe bomber, Brian Cole, might qualify. Cole’s lawyer argued he responded to Trump’s call to action. “I think he’s going to get the pardon,” the lawyer said. Bondi didn’t comment directly, but the implication hung heavy: the DOJ was prioritizing loyalty over justice.
Sanctuary policies added fuel to the fire. Frey defended Minneapolis’s “separation ordinance,” which limited cooperation with ICE to focus police on violent crime. “I want our limited numbers of police officers focusing on keeping people safe, arresting perpetrators of violent crimes, stopping car thefts,” he said. “What I don’t want them focusing on? Hunting down a dad that just dropped his kids off at daycare, who happens to be from Ecuador. That guy makes our city a better place.”
He challenged critics: “If you commit a crime, if you commit fraud, if you commit a carjacking or murder, you should be investigated… But a lot of the people that ICE is picking up right now in our city are not a problem for Minneapolis. They’ve opened businesses. They’ve been here for longer than I’ve been here. They contribute so beautifully and greatly to our city.”
Bondi, in her Hannity appearance, rescinded a memo from Merrick Garland protecting reporters from subpoenas. “In April, I did a memo rescinding Merrick Garland’s memo saying that reporters will not be subpoenaed. We will not look at reporters’ phones,” she said. “We have to protect our classified information and the heroic men and women in the military.” She justified the Nathanson raid as necessary to safeguard lives.
The Midas Touch Network’s DC bureau confronted Republican surrogates. Boebert and Burchett downplayed concerns, while Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan praised a union worker suspended for calling Trump a “pedophile protector.” “He’s a fucking American hero,” Ryan said. “He is a patriot. He is exercising his First Amendment rights… We’re proud of him. We stand with him.”
As the scandal unfolded, Bondi’s reputation crumbled. Accusations of turning the DOJ into a “racketeering enterprise” for covering up child sex trafficking echoed nationwide. The resignations exposed deep rifts, with prosecutors choosing ethics over allegiance. Mayor Frey’s pleas for sanity highlighted the human cost: families torn apart, communities divided.
In the end, Bondi’s meltdown was more than a personal breakdown; it was a symbol of a DOJ in disarray. As the Midas Touch Network promised updates, the nation watched, wondering if justice could survive the chaos.
