AG Nominee Pam Bondi Consulted for Group That Took Over Trump’s D.C. Hotel
During Donald Trump’s first term as president, the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., was a symbol of how his family actively cashed in on power and influence — before they unloaded leasing rights on the hotel for $375 million in 2022.
The president-elect’s family weren’t the only people in his orbit who profited from the hotel deal. It turns out Pam Bondi, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, consulted for the firm that bought the leasing rights.
The firm, CGI Merchant Group, ended up defaulting on its $285 million loan and losing the leasing rights in foreclosure — but Bondi is still due to receive $1 million from the company this year, according to her Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire.
Now, the Trump Organization, led by the president-elect’s son Eric, is reportedly having discussions about buying back the hotel in Washington, as his father prepares to reclaim the White House.
Trump tapped Bondi, who previously served as Florida’s attorney general, to lead the Justice Department after his first nominee, Matt Gaetz, withdrew under a cloud of scrutiny, relating to a House ethics investigation regarding allegations that he paid a 17-year-old for sex.
Bondi has long been a close Trump ally. Over a decade ago, she declined to take action against Trump University, despite many fraud complaints against the Trump-branded real estate seminar program, after receiving a $25,000 donation from the Donald J. Trump Foundation.
In the second half of Trump’s first term, Bondi served as a special advisor to Trump. She went on to aid Trump’s baseless claims of fraud after the 2020 election, wrongfully declaring that Trump “won Pennsylvania.”
During her first hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Bondi refused to admit outright that Trump lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden. Instead, she said: “President Biden is the president of the United States. He was duly sworn-in, and he is the president of the United States. There was a peaceful transition of power.” Pressed again, she said, “I accept the results.”
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In 2019, Bondi joined the lobbying firm Ballard Partners, and came back to the firm after her stint in the Trump White House. In that role, her clients have included Amazon, Uber, and the private prison firm GEO Group. She’s also lobbied for foreign governments, including the Embassy of the State of Qatar and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Zimbabwe.
Ballard Partners is closely-aligned with the Trump administration. Bondi is just one of several Ballard alumni expected to serve in high-ranking roles in the president-elect’s administration. Longtime Ballard lobbyist Susie Wiles, who helped lead Trump’s campaign, is set to serve as White House chief of staff.
Bondi has separately worked with the Trump-aligned think tank America First Policy Institute.
In her Senate questionnaire, Bondi noted that she served as a consultant for CGI Merchant Group in 2021 and 2022, and that the company owes her over $1 million in consulting fees this year.
Bondi was asked in the questionnaire to detail any potential conflicts of interest she might have. She listed her role with AFPI, but she did not name any of her lobbying clients.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the top Democrat on the Judiciary panel, blasted her for failing to name those lobbying clients.
“I am concerned that you failed to identify your extensive lobbying for foreign governments and big corporations as potential conflicts of interest,” Durbin said in the hearing.