00:00U.S. President Donald Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday
00:05and named his former personal lawyer as acting chief of the Justice Department.
00:10Trump announced the move in a post on social media,
00:13which comes amid criticisms of Bondi's handling of the Epstein files
00:17and her failure to prosecute several of Trump's perceived enemies.
00:22Trump called Bondi a great American patriot and a loyal friend
00:26and praised her for her tremendous job in reducing crime rates across the country.
00:31The president named Todd Blanche as interim head of the department
00:35until a permanent Attorney General is appointed.
00:39Blanche was one of Trump's personal lawyers
00:41who defended him in multiple criminal cases he faced
00:44after he left the White House in 2021 at the end of his first term.
00:49Bondi had been a staunch ally of the U.S. president
00:52but drew fire from some of Trump's supporters over her handling of the release
00:56of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
01:01The Epstein affair has been a major political liability for Trump,
01:05who was a longtime friend of the disgraced financier.
01:09Bondi's ouster comes nearly a month after Trump fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem,
01:14who was replaced by Mark Wayne Mullen in March.
01:17Weaponization.
01:18Weaponization.
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