Bondi's firing is actually good news

With the ouster of Pam Bondi, the Senate gets a do-over in confirming an attorney general. Let’s hope it demands one who won’t thumb her nose at the independence the Department of Justice has enjoyed for decades.

President Donald Trump fired Bondi Thursday after little more than a year on the job. In many ways, Bondi had done everything Trump had asked her to do. She used congressional hearings to sing his praises. She set up a "weaponization" working group to go after law enforcement officials who had prosecuted Trump. She directed the prosecution of some of Trump’s enemies. Bondi’s DOJ even sought criminal charges against members of Congress for simply restating in a video that military service members had a legal duty to refuse illegal orders.

But Bondi’s clumsy rollout of the files relating to Jeffrey Epstein, as well as her botched efforts to indict Trump rivals, may have been her undoing. It wasn’t a lack of loyalty to Trump, but a failure to execute that seems to have done her in.

Regardless of the reason, Bondi’s departure is good news for DOJ. Under her leadership, the department’s reputation for professionalism has plummeted. Numerous courts have found DOJ lawyers in contempt or violation of court orders. She oversaw the firing of career prosecutors and FBI agents without any apparent cause other than their perceived disloyalty to Trump; some were fired simply for working on cases involving Trump or people who participated in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. In fact, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who will now serve as interim AG, recently bragged that all 200 lawyers, agents and administrative professionals who had worked on those cases had left.

By allowing a large banner bearing the image of Trump’s glowering face to be placed over the entrance of its headquarters, Bondi sold out any illusion of independence. And yet, none of it was enough for the man who always wants more.

Bondi’s departure provides an opportunity for a fresh start for Justice Department leadership. While Trump has shown a desire to fill his Cabinet with sycophants and yes men, the Senate has an important role to play in selecting Bondi’s replacement. Even if Trump wanted to nominate Blanche, no appointee can assume the permanent role of AG without confirmation by the Senate. Rather than rubber-stamping Trump’s next choice, senators should demand a commitment from any nominee to restore the independence of the Justice Department.

Prosecutors have been prohibited from considering partisan politics in their charging decisions since the 1970s. In my view, a faithful reading of this policy would have precluded the cases against James Comey, the former FBI director who investigated Trump, and Letitia James, the New York attorney general who secured a jury verdict against him in a civil fraud case.

Moreover, no more blatant violation of the norms limiting communication between the White House and DOJ can be found than Trump’s social media post demanding Bondi charge Comey and James. And it was an order she promptly obeyed. Those limits exist to specifically prevent political meddling and promote public trust.

AG guidelines also require a factual basis to open any investigation. Even if you squint, it’s difficult to see any evidence for seeking charges in those cases and others that Bondi oversaw.

Some legal scholars argue (under the newly popular unitary executive theory) that the president controls all executive branch employees, including the attorney general, and may therefore direct them to conduct any investigative activity he pleases. Even if that’s true, the body politic need not accept it as wise. Just because a president can do something doesn’t mean he should.

Senators will be asked in the coming months to provide their advice and consent in selecting a new attorney general. They must demand that any nominee commit to honoring the guardrails Bondi ignored — or withhold their confirmation votes, as they have the right to do. And we, the people, have to hold these senators accountable, as we have the power to do. We deserve an independent Justice Department. We must demand it.

This column reflects the personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Barbara McQuade is a professor at the University of Michigan Law school, a former U.S. attorney and author of the forthcoming book, "The Fix: Saving America from the Corruption of a Mob-Style Government."