{"text":[[{"start":11.73,"text":"Donald Trump has fired US attorney-general Pam Bondi following mounting pressure from the White House and the Republican Party over her handling of files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. "}],[{"start":26.310000000000002,"text":"Her removal marks the second high-profile ousting from the president’s cabinet this year after Kristi Noem was fired as secretary of homeland security last month and replaced by Markwayne Mullin. "}],[{"start":38.800000000000004,"text":"Trump said in a Truth Social post on Thursday: “We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future, and our Deputy Attorney General, and a very talented and respected Legal Mind, Todd Blanche, will step in to serve as Acting Attorney General.”"}],[{"start":62.550000000000004,"text":"Bondi said in a post on X that she would “continue fighting for President Trump and this Administration” and that helping make the US safer while at the Department of Justice had “been the honor of a lifetime”. "}],[{"start":78.09,"text":"Bondi, a loyalist who helped defend Trump in his first impeachment trial in 2020 and defended his efforts to challenge the outcome of that year’s presidential election, had in recent months come under fire from many within the president’s coalition over her handling of the Epstein affair."}],[{"start":96.38,"text":"Her department initially missed a deadline set by Congress for the release of all the files related to the late sex offender and then botched initial attempts to redact the documents, inadvertently exposing the names of some victims."}],[{"start":113.17999999999999,"text":"In a sign of the simmering discontent, the Republican-led House oversight committee last month voted to subpoena Bondi in an attempt to force her to answer questions about documents relating to the Epstein files."}],[{"start":127.80999999999999,"text":"Bondi also faced pressure from Trump for failing to aggressively pursue his political enemies. "}],[{"start":134.54999999999998,"text":"In a social media post last year, the president appeared to address her directly, asking why “nothing is being done” to prosecute New York attorney-general Letitia James, former FBI director James Comey and Democratic senator Adam Schiff."}],[{"start":151.95,"text":"“They’re all guilty as hell,” Trump wrote. “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice . . . JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”"}],[{"start":165.08999999999997,"text":"The DoJ subsequently indicted Comey and James, but both cases were thrown out by federal judges who ruled that prosecutors chosen by Bondi had been illegally appointed."}],[{"start":178.06999999999996,"text":"Bondi’s temporary replacement, Todd Blanche, acted as Trump’s personal lawyer in several of the cases brought against him by the DoJ under his predecessor, Joe Biden, and state prosecutors. "}],[{"start":191.90999999999997,"text":"As deputy attorney-general, Blanche has taken aggressive stances, railing against so-called activist judges who rule against the Trump administration and firing career prosecutors who expressed disquiet over the government’s immigration crackdown."}],[{"start":208.64999999999998,"text":"Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Senate judiciary committee, said Bondi would be remembered for the “weaponisation of the world’s pre-eminent law enforcement agency for Donald Trump’s personal benefit”, adding that “apparently even she didn’t go far enough to appease him”."}],[{"start":228.34999999999997,"text":"Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, said Bondi must still respond to a subpoena from his committee."}],[{"start":236.39999999999998,"text":"“She must answer for her mishandling of the Epstein files and the special treatment she has given Ghislaine Maxwell,” the California lawmaker said, referring to the convicted sex trafficker and accomplice of Epstein. "}],[{"start":250.03999999999996,"text":"The DoJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "}],[{"start":263.17999999999995,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1775208708_3233.mp3"}