What's next for the Justice Department after Bondi's firing

[0:00] AMNA NAWAZ Welcome to the NewsHour. [0:02] President Donald Trump has ousted the second member of his Cabinet in less than a month. [0:07] Attorney General Pam Bondi will be leaving her role after just 14 months on the job. [0:12] In a post on his social media platform, the president said Bondi would be, quote, transitioning [0:16] to a much-needed and important new job in the private sector. [0:21] He did not specify the reason for her dismissal. [0:24] Our justice correspondent, Ali Rogin, has more on Bondi's firing and what comes next [0:28] for the Department of Justice. [0:29] AMNA NAWAZ After the announcement, Bondi called her time [0:32] as AG the honor of a lifetime, and said it was easily the most consequential first year [0:38] of the Department of Justice in American history. [0:42] During her tenure, Bondi has faced bipartisan criticism for her handling of the department's [0:46] investigation into late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. [0:50] And the president himself has expressed frustration over her lack of prosecutions of his perceived [0:55] political enemies. [0:57] But Bondi was also a vocal advocate. [0:59] AMNA NAWAZ Thank you. [0:59] AMNA NAWAZ She is a strong ally of President Trump, who frequently attacked members of [1:02] Congress on his behalf, including at a combative hearing in February. [1:05] REP. [1:07] ANNE BLANCHE I find it interesting that she keeps going [1:09] after President Trump, the greatest president in American history. [1:12] AMNA NAWAZ Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously served as President [1:17] Trump's personal attorney, will lead the department until the president names a new nominee for [1:22] the role. [1:23] For more on what this means for the DOJ, I'm joined by Mary McCord. [1:27] She's a former acting assistant attorney general for national security. [1:30] She's now executive director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection [1:38] at Georgetown Law. [1:39] Mary, thank you so much for being here. [1:40] MARY MCCORD, Executive Director, Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection [1:41] at Georgetown Law. [1:42] Thanks for having me. [1:43] AMNA NAWAZ Fourteen months in, what is Pam Bondi's legacy going to be as attorney general? [1:46] MARY MCCORD, Executive Director, Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection [1:47] at Georgetown Law. [1:48] MARY MCCORD Well, I think probably the things that people [1:49] will remember her for the most probably is the debacle of the Epstein investigation. [1:55] Way back early in Donald Trump's tenure, she really promised that the client files were [2:00] on her desk. [2:02] That had to have just been made up, because it was only months later that she said, we [2:06] don't have anything here. [2:08] I've investigated this along with the FBI director. [2:11] There's no criminal cases coming out. [2:13] There is no client list. [2:15] And then, of course, we have seen what has happened since then. [2:18] There are so many other things that she did that I feel like she should be remembered [2:24] for. [2:25] And these are mostly not good things at all, completely undermining the independence of [2:29] the Department of Justice. [2:30] AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report's, In the White House, saying famously in the [2:33] Great Hall the first time she addressed the men and women of the department that she was [2:37] so pleased to be working under the direction of the president of the United States. [2:42] And that's really complete anathema to the prosecutors, who, in order to show the American [2:48] people that justice is not being used for political purposes, want to keep that distance. [2:53] JUDY WOODRUFF, The Cook Political Report's, In the White House, added, Why do you think [2:55] this is happening? [2:56] And why now? [2:58] MARY MCCORD, Executive Director, Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection [2:59] at Georgetown Law. [3:00] for some time that this was going to happen. [3:03] And getting in Donald Trump's mind [3:08] about when he decides to do something is difficult to do. [3:11] It's usually tied to a news cycle [3:14] or to try to distract from news, I think. [3:16] And so today, it's not clear. [3:20] He had a bad day in the Supreme Court [3:22] yesterday with the birthright citizenship argument, which [3:25] had really nothing to do with Pam Bondi. [3:27] But still, perhaps he wants a distraction. [3:30] Now, whether this is the kind of distraction he wants, [3:32] I don't know. [3:33] The Epstein matter, what this really will do [3:36] is bring that back into the fore of discussion, [3:39] even while people were starting to discuss other things. [3:41] Because again, I think that's really one of the things [3:44] she's most known for. [3:45] We also know that President Trump was frustrated [3:48] with her failure to successfully prosecute [3:51] some of his political adversaries, James Comey, [3:54] Tish James, to name a few. [3:56] Some of the top names. [3:57] Some of the top names being circulated to replace her [4:00] include current EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, [4:04] US Attorney for Washington DC, Jeanine Pirro. [4:06] Would any of these names have any more success [4:10] in those prosecutions of political adversaries [4:12] than Bondi did? [4:14] You know, her lack of success there [4:16] is because the evidence didn't support the charges. [4:19] And that's what we've seen with when grand juries, like we've [4:23] heard already under Jeanine Pirro's watch in Washington DC, [4:27] rejected efforts to indict the members of Congress who [4:30] had put out the truth in a statement saying [4:33] that members of the military owe an oath to the Constitution [4:37] and not to obey unlawful orders. [4:40] That was just a true statement. [4:41] And the grand jury refused to indict. [4:44] We've seen vindictive and selective prosecution motions [4:49] filed in the cases of James and Jim Comey. [4:55] Now, the court didn't have to actually [4:56] reach the final merits of those because they kicked those cases [4:59] out on the grounds that Lindsey Halligan was unlawfully [5:03] in that office. [5:05] But they were powerful motions that even though Lindsey [5:08] Halligan had managed to get indictments there, [5:12] those motions and some other statements [5:14] by the judges in those cases suggested [5:16] she might have done so by saying things to the grand jurors [5:21] that she wasn't supposed to say. [5:22] So the long and the short of the answer to your question [5:24] is, you know, a different person. [5:26] A person doesn't change whether there is a lack of evidence. [5:29] And some of the suggested prosecutions [5:33] are just really straining to find something to prosecute. [5:38] Todd Blanch, who's currently the deputy attorney general, [5:41] will serve in the acting capacity as the leader [5:43] until someone is named. [5:45] He was President Trump's former lawyer. [5:47] He interviewed Glenn Maxwell last year. [5:51] Epstein survivors who have criticized the DOJ's handling [5:54] of this say it's not about Pam Bondi. [5:56] It's about a system that has failed them repeatedly. [5:59] So is Todd Blanch going to provide continuity [6:03] here in terms of how the DOJ has handled it thus far? [6:06] I mean, with respect to that case, [6:08] I think he really made a mess of things [6:12] when he did do that interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, [6:14] because he suggested that this was going to sort of come [6:17] to some sort of conclusions. [6:18] But what we've seen when you read [6:21] the transcript of those interviews, [6:23] you know, as a former prosecutor, [6:25] there's nothing about that interview. [6:26] There's no interview that tracks with what prosecutors would [6:29] normally do when they are interviewing somebody who [6:31] is complicit in the crimes, right? [6:34] And he was a former prosecutor, or was a prosecutor. [6:37] He is a former prosecutor. [6:39] So he does know better. [6:40] I don't think he's, he has definitely [6:43] been as involved in this matter as Pam Bondi was. [6:47] And I think that now, I think he's maybe [6:49] benefited from so much criticism being levied against her. [6:53] And that focus may turn more to him [6:56] now, because she's not going to be there. [6:59] Mary McCord with Georgetown Law. [7:00] Thank you so much for your insights. [7:02] My pleasure. [7:04] Support journalism you trust. [7:06] Support PBS News. 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