The FACTS:   ABOUT TRUMP'S ADVISORS 

Bondi was married to John D. Wakefield in 2019 but allowed herself to be identified as “single” in financial disclosures and news reports for many years afterward. Bondi’s under-the-radar marriage and a review of her financial statements raises questions about whether she is properly reporting spousal holdings and income. 

• Wakefield is the owner of a Tampa-based real estate private equity firm focused on investments in Florida and the Carolinas. The business, Varner Wakefield Equity Partners (also called VW Multifamily), claims to hold $400 million in investments in multi-family apartment communities as well as office complexes.
   

​With Wakefield, Bondi owns PB Advisory LLC, a consulting business that was set up as a passthrough for income from Newsmax Broadcasting and bitnile.com, an online social gaming platform. 
 

In recent years, Bondi has been employed as a lobbyist by Ballard Partners, a lobbying firm owned by longtime Trump associate Brian Ballard. In 2024, she reported receiving $1.067 million from Ballard Partners for her work. Among Bondi’s clients that could overlap with the Department of Justice:

• ​Alden Torch Financial: - a Denver-based company that manages investments in low-income housing tax credits.

• iGas USA Inc: - A Tampa-based refrigerant company.

  • ​The Tampa Bay Times reported that corporate records and court filings show that a state-controlled Chinese company owns around a third of iGas USA. American competitors of iGas have charged in comments to the EPA that the Tampa company’s importation of cheap, Chinese-made refrigerants has hurt domestic producers.

• ​General Motors: Pam Bondi has directly lobbied for General Motors and Ballard Partners “proudly” represents the corporation. From as early as Q1 2020 to as recently as Q3 2021, Bondi lobbied on labor, among other issues, on behalf of GM. In July 2020, DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) notified GM that it was investigating the company for hiring discrimination under the Immigration and Nationality Act. By April 2023, DOJ reached a settlement with GM resolving allegations that, until at least September 2021, GM imposed a “discriminatory barrier” against lawful permanent residents in its hiring processes.

• The GEO Group: Pam Bondi has directly lobbied for the GEO Group, the “nation’s largest private prison company” which gave $1 million to a pro-Trump Super PAC in 2024 and expected to rake in $400 million a year from Trump’s mass deportation plans. In 2021, GEO Group directly criticized President Biden’s executive order directing DOJ to not renew contracts with private prisons.

  • ​In Q3 2019 and Q4 2019, Bondi lobbied the Trump White House on “promoting the use of public-private partnerships in correctional services.” That same year, GEO’s full-year net income leaped by $21.5 million to $166.6 million as it touted new federal contracts under the Trump administration, which doubled private prison spending in 2019 after moving to roll back Obama DOJ efforts to phase out private prisons.

• ​​Uber: Pam Bondi has directly lobbied for Uber, which in 2022 faced a multi-million dollar DOJ settlement affecting over 65,000 consumers alleging Uber violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to accommodate disabled users in its wait time fee policy. In 2024, Uber was reportedly under DOJ investigation for potentially new ADA violations against blind riders.

• Amazon: Pam Bondi has directly lobbied on behalf of Amazon and Ballard Partners “proudly” counts the corporation among its clients. In July 2023, DOJ imposed a $25 million civil penalty on Amazon over allegations its Alexa service illegally retained recordings of children’s voices.

• Major League Baseball: Pam Bondi has directly lobbied for Major League Baseball (MLB). The DOJ has repeatedly asked federal courts to rein in MLB’s “longtime immunity from antitrust law,” including weighing in on a 2023 case from minor league teams claiming MLB “abused its power” in restricting the number of minor teams.
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From June 2023 to March 2024, Bondi reported working as a consultant for the Puerto Rico-based Renatus LLC. She received $2,969,563 worth of stock and stock warrants in Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC), a blank check company, in exchange for helping to close its merger with Renatus. On closing, these shares and warrants were converted into stock in the newly-formed Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT).
 

Bondi is also affiliated with and received income from conservative think tanks and nonprofits. In 2024, she reported receiving $520,000 in consulting fees from the America First Policy Institute as well as a $5,000 referral fee from the State Policy Network. In 2014, she was also one of the founding directors of the Rule of Law Defense Fund and Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), dark money entities linked to the January 6 insurrection and figures such as Leonard Leo.
 

Pam Bondi’s track record as Attorney General of Florida was marred by financial conflicts of interest as corporate interests endowed the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) and the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC)––which funneled donations to support her re-election and allowed her to expense tens of thousands annually on travel and dinners, including:

• ​​Firing two attorneys and dropping the housing foreclosure fraud lawsuits they were leading against predatory banks after one defendant, Lender Processing Services, contributed $31,972 to RSLC and RAGA.

• Dropping a tax fraud lawsuit against Expedia and several other online travel agencies after Expedia contributed $192,530 to RSLC and RAGA;