During her brief time as U.S. attorney general, Bondi deserved criticism for how she handled releasing the Epstein files and her related congressional testimony, Gerard Filitti, senior counsel at The Lawfare Project, said on American Family Radio on Monday.
The problem for her replacement, Filitti cautioned, is the next U.S. attorney general will still be surrounded by liberal attorneys and bureaucrats at the Department of Justice.
“The Justice Department has been shown over the years to be entrenched with Democratic operatives and people who just don't like Republicans, don't like conservative values, and have weaponized the department itself,” Filitti told show host Jenna Ellis.
In fact, during the first Trump term, those Washington bureaucrats were nicknamed the “Resistance” by the liberal news media, and they were treated like America-loving patriots for fighting in the shadows to stop his “America First” agenda.
One example came in 2018, in a New York Times op-ed. In that article an anonymous official said senior officials were working to stop Trump’s “worst impulses” and his “misguided” agenda.
That article is where the term “deep state” originated from, when Trump denounced them as traitors after the Times article published.
Blanche has proven his loyalty
One possible replacement for Bondi is Lee Zeldin, the former New York congressman, who is currently administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Filitti called Zeldin (pictured at left) a “fantastic” attorney, with great experience but said that alone is not enough to be the next successful attorney general.
Another possible replacement for U.S. attorney general is Todd Blanche, who was second-in-command at the DOJ under Bondi and is now acting attorney general after Bondi’s firing.
Depending on the source, Blanche also has plenty of critics and admirers. A former Democrat, he has represented Trump as a criminal defense attorney twice, when Trump was fighting the hush-money case involving Stormy Daniels and when Trump fought the classified documents case.
Sharing his views on Blanche, Filitti said he believes the acting attorney general has proven himself despite his background as a Democrat.
“He is certainly on the same page as MAGA when it comes to priorities. So I'm not concerned about his past affiliations,” Filitti shared.
The bigger problem for Bondi’s replacement, he added, is the “uphill task” at the DOJ.
