By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-05 18:12:22 | Updated at 2024-12-22 21:37:35
2 weeks ago
As he assembles a cabinet full of loyalists and political street fighters, Trump's choice for attorney general Pam Bondi has shown the ability to go for the jugular, promising to probe 'deep state' prosectors and that 'the investigators will be investigated.'
Long before Trump selected Bondi – who stepped in as Trump's choice after the stunning collapse of the Matt Gaetz nomination – she tangled with the lawyer for O.J. Simpson. It happened after the disgraced football star wanted to move to Florida after completing his prison sentence for kidnapping and robbery.
Bondi, the former Florida AG, tried to prevent it. The lawyer, Malcolm LaVergne, tore into her peronally, leveling several foul insults. Then, Bondi went after him – even trying to have him disbarred in the state of Texas.
Now, years later, the lawyer says the incident has shaken him as he considers the awesome powers she could wield as Trump's AG.
'She's a very vindictive person, so that's what it taught me about her,' LaVergne told DailyMail.com in an interview where he reflected on the clash with Trump's new legal bulldog.
'So that only confirmed me how kind of dopey she is. She's vindictive and she files frivolous complalints,' he said. 'She's vindictive towards me just because I called her a couple names.'
Now, Bondi is set to take control of DOJ after the expected departure of Trump nemesis special counsel Jack Smith, where she will have to weigh his calls for 'retribution' amid calls in Congress to revisit unsubstantiated claims of 2020 election fraud. There are already calls among leading Repulbicans in Congress to have the DOJ prosecute Joe Biden and his brother, Jim.
The move that provoked LaVergne's blistering attack came when Bondi wrote the head of the Florida Department of Corrections in a bid to keep Simpson from relocating to her state in 2017.
Malcolm LaVergne (l) represented O.J. Simpson, when he clashed with then-Florida AG after Simpson said he planned to move to the state after getting out of prison on parole
Simpson, after being acquitted of murder in Los Angeles, was getting parole and about to be released from prison after serving time for kidnapping and robbery.
'Floridians are well aware of Mr. Simpson's background, his wanton disregard for the lives of others, and of his scofflaw attitude with respect to the heinous acts for which he has been found civilly liable. The specter of his residing in comfort in Florida should not be an option. Our state should not become a country club for this convicted criminal,' she wrote.
It was a move that allowed Bondi, who held an elective post, to be seen as standing up for Floridians to keep out a potential threat, e in ven if it was one Simpson's attorney didn't think was grounded in law.
LaVergne posted the letter online ridiculing her legal posture, then took things to another level. 'Florida AG quite possibly the stupidest person on the planet. Simpson can and will move to Florida. None of your business,' he wrote.
He was even more brutal in profane comments to a local reporter.
'What a complete stupid b----. F--- her,' he told the Tampa Bay Times. 'She has zero standing to even talk about Mr. Simpson's case. She's the attorney general, she has nothing to do with it. It's virtually a foregone conclusion that Simpson will be moving to Florida when he chooses and once Nevada approves it. That's handled by the Nevada Division of Parole and Florida department of corrections, not the attorney general.'
'I don't think O.J. cared one bit about her,' said LaVergne, who was named executor of Simpson's estate following his death in April after representing him for years.
Bondi hit back by trying to end his ability to practice law in the state of Texas, one of the jurisdictions where he had a law license (and one with a more conservative legal establishment than California and Nevada, where his main practice was based).
Her office filed a grievance letter under the name of Chesterfield Smith, Jr., a now-deceased agency lawyer whose father previously ran the American Bar Association. The letter recounted the quotes, including the profane language and LaVergne calling her 'possibly the stupidest person on the planet.'
Pam Bondi, Trump's nominee for Attorney General, made the rounds in the Senate. She has vowed to go after 'deep state' prosecutors
As state AG in Florida, Bondi's office filed a grievance against the O.J. Simpson lawyer after he called her a 'b****'
The state bar ruled the conduct described 'is not a violation'
'These statements would appear to be in violation of the following Texas Rule of Professional Conduct, and may be in violation of other Texas Rules of Professional Conduct.' It accused him of a 'lack of professionalism and fitness to practie law in the state of Texas' and said his comments seemed designed to 'embarass or burden the Attorney General of Florida.'
LaVergne responded with a letter stating he had 'not been anywhere near Travis County for over 20 years' and his only time in the state was passing through the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport.
The state bar was unimpressed with the complaint. 'This office has examined the Grievance and determiend that the information alleged does not demonstrate Professional Misconduct or a Disability.' It was promptely dismissed.
The episode has LaVergne anxious.
'She's remained a Trump loyalist, and so I'm wishing her the best. I hope she takes her position very seriously,and not not just as a Trump loyalist, but as an American. I just want her to be a red, white and blue American ... And if she doesn't do that, then God help the country, and God help her.'
He said he was 'impulsive' and was 'annoyed' when he got a call from a local reporter about Bondi's move against O.J. He said there was 'a lot of pressure' on him at the time, and that Bondi did what she did 'purely for political points, because she has nothing to do with parole information.'
But having gone back to review Bondi's effort, he is even more concerned. 'I'm very concerned that she would do that. Our top law enforcement officer likest to pick on OJ's lawyer just because he called her a couple of names,' he lamented.
'They dismissed it very quickly. So she's a very vindictive person, so that's what it taught me about her.'
The Trump transition declined a request for comment about the spat.
Four Republicans would have to vote against Trump's pick to bring down the nomination, in a Senate where they are set to hold a 53-47 majority.
The clash over Simpson, who ended up keeping his legal residence in Nevada, is just one of the areas in Bondi's background that is drawing scrutiny as she faces confirmation before the Senate. Trump has already had two nominations collapse, and his nomination of Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary is in peril.
When Bondi was AG, she ultimately did not join a lawsuit by the New York AG in 2013 seeking compensation for students who said they were defrauded by Trump University.
She faced scrutiny for accepting a $25,000 donation from a Trump family foundation before the decision was finalized and while she was seeking reelection.
The circumstances 'will certainly be re-examined' now that she is being nominated, according to the New York Times.
'I never, nor was my office, investigating him,' Bondi told the Tampa Bay Times in 2016, speaking of Trump. 'Never. I would never lie. I would never take money. I've been obviously devastated over this.'
'The Florida Ethics Panel cleared Pam Bondi. This is old, discredited news,' Trump transition spokesman Alex Pfeiffer told DailyMail.com.
There have been times when she has admitted mistakes. Back in 2013, she said it was an error to reschedule a state execution that conflicted with a campaign fundraiser.
'I should not have requested the execution be moved. It had been [delayed] twice,' she told the Tampa Bay Times. 'I'm sorry. And it will not happen again.' The victim's family had been critical of the move.
A Louisiana couple accused her of 'stealing' their St. Bernard after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Bondi adopted the dog and named it Noah. But in January 2016, Louisiana couple Steven and Doreen Couture tracked down their missing animal, named Master Tank.
Bondi refused their request.
'I took a dog who was a walking skeleton,' she told The St Petersburg Times. That's what was wrong with him before the hurricane. If I thought I was sending him to a stable environment, where he would be cared for, as hard as it would be, I'd put him in my car and drive him back mysel,' she said.
The couple sued, and Bondi finally returned Master Tank after a year-long custody battle.
Doreen Couture called it a finanaical and emotional burden, and told the paper she had little reason to keep communication open.
'Why should I? She stole my dog… She has no compassion at all.'
Despite their confrontation with Bondi over O.J. and his law license, LaVergne considers her an upgrade over former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who faced an ethics probe and allegations of sex trafficking that the Trump loyalist denies.
'God bless her and hopefully she does well,' he said.
