Short Answer
Pam Bondi served as Florida’s Attorney General from 2011 to 2019. In 2013, her political action committee received a $25,000 donation from a foundation connected to Jeffrey Epstein, shortly before her office declined to join a civil lawsuit against Epstein filed by victims’ attorneys. Bondi has denied any connection between the donation and the decision.
In Detail
The Donation
In 2013, Bondi’s political action committee “And Justice for All” received a $25,000 contribution from the Epstein-linked Coral Reef Foundation. The timing became significant because Bondi’s office had been reviewing whether Florida should join a victims’ civil lawsuit against Epstein around the same time.
The Decision Not to Join the Suit
Bondi’s office ultimately declined to pursue the case. Critics and victim advocates noted the proximity of the donation to this decision as circumstantially concerning. Bondi and her office maintained that the donation had no influence on the legal decision-making, and that the legal basis for pursuing the case was insufficient.
Investigation of the Donation
The donation itself was later found to have been made improperly — the Epstein foundation was not legally registered to make such political contributions in Florida. Bondi’s office paid a fine over the improper donation but maintained it was an administrative error unrelated to any favors extended to Epstein.
Broader Context
The NPA had been signed in 2008, before Bondi took office. Bondi’s tenure as AG coincided with the period during which victims were fighting in court to have the NPA overturned on the grounds that they had not been notified as required by the Crime Victims’ Rights Act. Her office’s posture toward these victim-initiated legal efforts became part of the broader criticism of Florida’s official response to the Epstein case.
Later Career
Pam Bondi went on to become a spokesperson for Trump’s first impeachment defense and was later nominated as U.S. Attorney General in the second Trump administration.